


Fine, Cool, and Chill

by Essiah_Tahir, SnowHeartedWarrior



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, Demonic Possession, Dorks in Love, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Michael and Jeremy too, Probably forgetting some tags, Religion, Rich is an arsonist, SQUIP is a demon, Teenage Dorks, We love to hurt rich(not even joking), YouTube, everyone's religions are ambiguous except brooke jeremy and chloe, jake's legs are fuuuuuuucked, michael is both filipino AND ecudorian, theyre not really teens in this theyre like college-age, ya know... ; )
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-04-24 22:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 30,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14364891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Essiah_Tahir/pseuds/Essiah_Tahir, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowHeartedWarrior/pseuds/SnowHeartedWarrior
Summary: Michael Mell and Jeremy Heere are two ex-college students who decided to start wasting their time (as Michael puts it) with looking for ghosts and demons. What will they do when actually faced with an angry spirit?





	1. Prologue - Channel Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Essiah_Tahir here  
> A little late on the upload i know. Had school, and then Drive issues.  
> But better late than never as Winter said!  
> Enjoy!

_“Alright, is it on? No, the light is supposed to- there we go.”_

_A boy sat on a bed, hands folded and clearly trying his best to look professional._

_“So, uh, how do we start this?”_

_“Just say hello to the audience or something.”_

_“Right! Uh,” The boy cleared his throat and readjusted himself. “Hello...internet? No, shit, that doesn’t sound right.”_

_“Let me do it, nerd,” Another boy sat himself down right next to the first one. “Hey, YouTube! I’m Michael, and this nerd right here,” He pulled the lanky boy closer to him. “Is my best buddy Jeremy!”_

_Jeremy glanced at Michael, then felt a little bit more courage to talk. “Yeah, so, Michael and I decided to make this channel to show the world our ghost hunting escapades! We’ll be traveling all over America trying to collect evidence to definitively say whether or not ghosts are real-”_

_“Or complete bullshit,” Michael finished. Jeremy poked his side, making the taller one shove him playfully in response._

_“With any luck, they are real and we didn’t decide to drop out of college for no reason.”_

_“Alternatively, we’re wasting our time but at least we get to travel.”_

_“Michael?”_

_“Yeah Jeremy?”_

_“Shuddup.”_

_Michael snorted. “So anyway, if you want to see my friend Heere,” He let out another chuckle. “Freak out over the wind blowing in his ear or a pen being knocked off a desk, like and subscribe to our channel. We upload our- What’d you call ‘em, Jer?”_

_“Our PNSN Investigations,”_

_“Yeah, those things, we upload ‘em every week.”_

_“As long as neither of us die.”_

_Michael rolled his eyes. “Anyway, see you ‘fellow investigators’ next video. Peace out.”_

_The video ended with Michael flashing a peace sign to the camera._


	2. Chapter One - Shades of Death Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Public Service Announcement: Jeremy is a scaredy cat

“Well, this is the place.”

Jeremy put down the map, scanning the mostly abandoned, decrepit houses around him.

“Gee, Jer. I couldn’t tell. After all this street sign doesn’t tell you much.”

“Huh?”

Jeremy turned to where Michael was pointing, an old, rusty street sign that read ‘SHADES OF DEATH RD’ in bold white print. 

“Well,uh that was...just a test! Yes! To make sure you’re sharp against any supernatural advances on your mind!”

“Whatever Jer Bear.” Michael raised the camera, and checked to see if everything was alright before asking, “You ready?”

Jeremy took a deep breath, and nodded.

“Alright, we’re on in three...two...one….go.”

Immediately Jeremy got into his entertainer mindset, ready to ‘capture the audience, dude’ as Michael instructed him.

“Hello,  YouTube! It’s me, Jeremy-”

“And Michael!”

“Of PNSN Investigations, coming to you from...”

Michael took his cue and raised the camera to the street sign for a moment, and then fixed it back to Jeremy.

“Shades of Death Road, in Warren County,New Jersey. Now if you follow me, I’ll tell you the history of this place, and how much of a hotspot it is for paranormal activity. C’mon Michael. Now for centuries this place has had a history of violence, from the hanging of Native Americans, to stagecoach robberies that ended in bloodshed, and with a history like that, it’s no surprise no one lives here! Now here you’ll see that this stretch of road was the site of...”

“Ay Michael, let’s upload in here! They got some kick-ass milkshakes,  **and** free wifi!”

“You got it, Jer Bear!”

Michael managed to roll his old PT Cruiser, lovingly named Winona, into a parking space at Steak and Shake. Once inside they ordered a large chocolate shake to share between them, and got to uploading.

“You know Jeremy, I gotta say,” Michael placed his hand on top of Jeremy’s and squeezed, “Our channel is doing pretty good for some cheesy little ghost hunters show.”

And it was, much to Michael’s surprise. When he dropped out of college along with his best friend, he had no idea that they would be up to 1,000 subs in three months. And yet here they were. 

“I know right! Then again,” Jeremy placed his other hand on top of Michael’s now, saying “I couldn’t have done it without you.” They both continued to chat, unaware of the looks and giggles they were getting from some of the tables around them.

“Here you go you two, your chocolate shake.” The waitress said, placing the shake with two straws in front of them.

“And may I say, I’m glad there are guys like you in the world, showing that my son isn’t some freak. That there are grown ups just like him too.” She smiled and then walked off, leaving two confused boys at the table.

“What was that about?”

Michael shrugged before responding with,”No idea, but I’m glad we’re setting an example for her kid. Now drink up, before I down the whole thing myself!”

They laughed and drank the shake together, browsing through comments of older videos, and celebrating the views they were getting.

 

“Y’know, Michael,” Jeremy was talking as he began putting on pajamas. “I think we need to expand our horizons and...like, actually head out of Jersey?”

“No way, Jer,” Michael replied as he walked out of the bathroom, shirtless. “Winona ain’t gonna survive for long on the open road, and we have whole zero dollars and zero cents we can use to use any other form of transportation like planes or some shit.”

Jeremy snorted. “C’mon, Micah, you can’t expect Winona to stay with us forever.”

Michael dramatically gasped. “How dare you say that about my precious daughter!”

“Michael it’s a car.”

“I’ve raised her since she was but a baby-”  
“You bought her from your uncle.”

“And she’s been with us for eons!”

“Since sophomore year, dude.”

“Plus she’s carries so many memories, man,” Michael looked actually disheartened when he said this. “That little burn in the back seat from you freaking out about tryin’ weed with me, the little scribbles on the dashboard we made because we were stoned and wanted to draw on  _ something,  _ and all those bumper stickers!”

“The honor student one is pretty funny…” Jeremy admitted. “But we gotta let go of the past some time.”

“Oooooor…” Michael put a hand on his chin, then snapped his fingers as a thought came to mind. “We can leave her with my mom! But then that leaves us without transportation…”

“We’ll figure out something.” Jeremy reassured. “Meanwhile, I’m fuckin’ beat, man. That road was nerve-wracking.”

“Yeah, I could tell. You screamed like some kinda goat when a  _ twig  _ snapped.”

“Hey!”

The boys proceeded into playful bickering before actually heading to bed.

 

“Remember to keep her clean, Ma.”

“Yes, Michael, I know,” Mrs. Mell chuckled at her son’s worry for his car. “I swear, you’d better become this frantic about my eventual grandchildren.” She poked her son’s belly, to which he snorted. “I’m not joking on that. When you and that Heere boy return married, I want a grandchild to smother.  _ ¿Cachas? _ ”

Michael choked on his own spit. “Mom! Me ‘n Jer are just good friends. Nothin’ more.”

“Mijo, I’ve seen how you look at him. You are like that story your dad told you- the one with the sea-dragon…”

“The Bakunawa?”

“Yes! You are the Bakunawa, and he is your moon!”

“...Mom, I’m not gonna eat Jeremy.”

Mrs. Mell put on a childish pout. “You know what I mean, Mijo. You love him.”

“As a friend, mom…” Michael spotted Jeremy coming out of his dad’s place next door. “As a friend.” He nodded.

“Hey Michael!” Jeremy jogged over. “Hi, Mrs. Mell.”

“Hello, Jeremy,” She said with a kind smile. “Michael and I were just talking about you-”

“-our show!” Michael practically screeched. “We were talking about the show. How we’re gonna go outta the state and everything and we need some kind of transportation since we can’t take Winona.” He spoke so quickly, one would think he was reciting an Eminem song.

“Oh, you two need a ride?” Mrs. Mell blinked. “I know someone who can help you! He’s a very nice boy- although I think he’s gone a bit mad. I believe he used to live around here- Richard?”

Michael and Jeremy glanced at each other. Jeremy looked at Mrs. Mell. “Richard...Goranski?”

“That’s it!” She nodded. “Yes, he and this other boy live in a van outside the homeless shelter near my work. Didn’t you two used to be friends with Richard, anyway?”

“Uuuuh….”

“No matter,” She waved her hand. “Just go on boys. I’m sure he’d love some familiar faces.”

“Alright, mom. Uh…” Michael cleared his throat. “Bye. I’ll remember to call.”

“Yeah, bye Mrs. Mell!” Jeremy was already running off like a gazelle, although a bit less majestic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when a waitress thanks you and your buddy for being bold or some shit but yall are just real close bros (right?)


	3. Chapter Two - Hope House Homeless Shelter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pimp my ride part one

After about 2 different bus rides, one pit stop at 7 Eleven, and thirty minutes of walking, Michael and Jeremy found themselves outside of the Hope House Homeless Shelter, but not any van. 

“I dunno Michael, you think we got the wrong address or something?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe it’s on the other side of the building? That might be it, question mark?”

They rounded the corner, and sure enough, an old, rickety, yet well kept van parked by itself on the side of the street.

“See Jer Bear? WHat I tell ya? C’mon, let’s see if they’re home.”

“But Michael they don’t have a-”

“Shuddup Jeremy.”

Michael walked up to the van, and just before he knocked, the door was thrust to the side, startling Jeremy and Michael, causing the latter to fall on his butt.

“Whoah! Watch out-”

“What the  **fuck** are you here for.”

In the doorway stood a very short, yet  **very** angry boy in an ugly tank top with Keanu Reeves on it, and some tan cargo pants. Needless to say, he had boots on.

“Hey Rich! Rem-”

“Shut the fuck up Heere. I know who the fuck you are. What I asked was..” he stepped out of the van, picking Michael up by his shirt until he was on his tiptoes, “What. Are. You. Here for.”

The two boys stood still, unsure of what to do lest they set of their ‘friend’.

“Yo! What’s going on here?”

Rich dropped Michael abruptly, as none other than Jake Dillinger came near.

“Oh hey! Michael and Jeremy here just dropped by, and wanted to talk.”

“Well then,” Jake came near and picked Michael up, brushing him off as he did so. “Talk we shall! I think there’s some joint nearby with a dollar menu somewhere...”

 

“And long story short, we need a ride, and you guys need...money,” Jeremy finished his talk with Rich and Jake just as Michael returned with the group’s tray of food. Rich quickly grabbed his burger and began quietly eating it while glaring at Jeremy and Michael.

“That seems like a good deal, I guess,” Jake shrugged, holding his own burger. “But do you guys actually have cash ooooor?”

Michael and Jeremy looked at each other.

“We’ve got a friend. She’s like a tiny sugar momma but we don’t have, like, have sex with her or nothin’. She just supports our endeavors and I think her semester just released for summer break. Jer can you check on that?”

“Already on it, Micah.”

“Alright, question two,” Jake took a bite of his food. “Are you two dating?”

“No!” They both denied quickly.

“Me ‘n Jer have just known each other for...basically forever, I guess,” Michael explained. “Can’t have any real boundaries with someone who’s been around me for nearly my entire life.”

“I guess that’s a valid point,” Jake nodded. “Third question.”

The boys held their breath.

“Would you mind if I help your investigations? Or rather, you help mine?”

Once more, the two boys glanced at each other.

“You’ve got an investigation?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah, uh...My parents,” Jake awkwardly shifted in his seat. Rich placed a hand on his shoulder calmly. “They disappeared back in my junior year of highschool but I know they wouldn’t just...leave me behind, right? So I began doing research, and it’s lead me on multiple demon-hunting paths.”

Michael seemed to mutter “great another fucking fanatic” under his breath while Jeremy grinned.

“Of course we can help you, dude! If anything, you’re helping us if you’ve got some good leads,” The excitement in his voice seemed to at least make Michael smile a bit too.

“It’s a deal, then,” Jake picked up a napkin to wipe his hands-  _ wow he downed that burger quick without us noticing  _ Michael briefly thought- and held out his hand. Jeremy took it and shook it.

“A deal,” He agreed.

 

“By Jesus, why is y’alls place so messy! We’ve been at this for over two hours!”

Albeit whiny, Michael spoke nothing but the truth, having moved an ungodly amount of junk and trash from the van, and still having a lot of work to go before they were done. 

“Listen here Mell, if you’re gonna whine, we can call this deal off right now.”

Jake poked his head out of the van from where he had made the start of their little assembly line, saying “Oh c’mon Rich! Don’t be mad that they’ve seen us like this, it was only a matter of time. Plus, now we’ll actually have a reason to live in a van, am I right?!”

“Yeah, sure, I guess,” Rich grumbled, practically throwing a box of balls at Michael.

In another hour, they had finally finished clearing out all the junk, and had proper designated spaces, with the bulk of the back of the van being the space dedicated to equipment, well would be, and the middle near the seats a sleeping area.

“Michael...It’s perfect!”

Jeremy latched onto Michael, jumping up and down excitedly, saying, “We did it! We did it!”

Jake stepped down from inside the van, brushing off his hands and a proud smile on his face, throwing his arm over Rich's shoulder.

“Damn right we did. Now all we need is to get the equipment from Christine. You guys got a pick up location or…?”

Jeremy stopped and looked at Michael, then back to Jake.

“Well uh, we may or may not have told her just yet.”

“Well, call her then, String Bean!”

Jeremy called her up on his phone, praying that she would not just answer, but tag along. Otherwise, they’re whole operation would be set back. After about a minute of waiting, the phone picked up.

“What’s up Jeremy, or specifically, how much money do you need this time?”

The group cringed, taken aback by Christine’s bluntness, however true.

“Um...yeah, hey Christine. This actually isn’t all the way about money. Now before you say anything! Let me talk first and you’ll see what I mean.”

So Jeremy, with the help of the others explained that although, yes, they money, they also want Christine herself, seeing as she could be a valuable asset to the team, seeing as they’re finally expanding their horizons, and looking to do larger scale operations all over the world. After he finished, Christine was silent for a while, deep in thought.

“Okay.”

“Wait, what.”

“I said okay. You guys are finally doing what I’ve been wanting, so it’s a worthy operation to fund. Plus, you guys’ll need me for actually knowing what to buy. You guys got a proper vehicle?”

Jake spoke up, chipping in with “We got me and Rich’s van, but it's no Mystery Machine. You know a place that can pimp it out for the job?”

“You betcha. What about a camera person? Any of you fellas qualified?”

“Not really. Since it was only me and Jeremy before, we’ve just been using a regular old camera, with some light filters we managed to afford.”

“Hmmm...”

Christine paused yet again, until a snap was heard through the phone.

“Jenna! She’s worked with that kind of stuff! I’ll bribe her with a new phone and some kisses, and she’ll come along too!”

“That’s great! Where do you want us to meet you?”

“Can y’all make it to my place in Newark? It should be about a two hours drive, plenty of time for me to get some of the stuff you guys need, and get Jenna on board. That sound good?” 

Jeremy looked to Jake who nodded in agreement.

“We’ll be there.”

“Alrighty.  See you guys soon.”

 

“Now you gotta take a left on this next light, and it’ll be the place with the cute pastel paint job.”

Jake turned the corner, right into a neighborhood. He kept an eye out for a house fitting Jeremy’s description. “That the one?” He pointed to soft yellow colored house.

“Yep. Pull into the driveway.”

Jake parked the van behind an adorable blue Bug. The instant Jeremy popped out of their van, he was tackled by a very small black-haired girl in a rather...eccentric looking outfit. She looked like she just stepped out of the late nineties.

“Ow- Chris, ribs! You’re gonna make ‘em collapse on my organs,” Jeremy struggled to breath.

“Oops, sorry, Jeremy! I keep forgetting hugging you should be like hugging an actual twig.” She said, backing away just as Michael opened the side door. “Michael!”

“Hey, Chris. Long time, no see,” He gave her a lazy grin, and the two fist-bumped. “How and where is Jenna?”

“Jen’s packing up her good stuff upstairs, and she’s wonderful.” Christine seemed to blush a little, making Michael snicker softly. “So who are these new guys?”

Jake had made his way over to the other side of the van, now holding out a hand. “Jake Dillinger. I’m the guy who owns the van.”

Christine excitedly shook his hand. “I’m Christine Canigula! The gal with the gold. But no actual gold. I just come from a good family.”

“And the guy passed out in the back still is Rich Goranski,” Jeremy pointed into the open van where Rich was still fast asleep.

“Didn’t he go missing in high school?” Christine blinked in confusion.

“He did but now he’s back.” Michael shrugged nonchalantly. 

“...Oooookay.” Christine glanced to Rich again, probably to make sure he was actually still breathing, before the front door opened. “Jenny! Over here, Jeremy and Michael are here!”

The large brunette made her way over, popping some gum casually. “Hey gays.” She slipped her phone into her pocket. “Long time, no see. And there’s two new people.” She said blankly.

“Yep! The really tall one is Jake, he owns the van, and the dead guy is Rich! But he’s not actually dead, just really sleepy.”

“...Rich Goranski?” Jenna looked quite surprised. “I thought he  _ did  _ die. Huh.” She took her phone back out, typing a message with incredible speed before putting it away once more.  “So, how much room you got in the back?”

“We cleaned it out, so we should have enough room for the tech.”

“Cool.” She gave a thumbs up, turning to go back into the house. “Y’all mind helping me get this shit in the van?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”


	4. Chapter Three - F & M Auto Center

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pimp my ride part 2 ft Leo Valdez

 

“So now that we got a crew, we need the ride.”

“Chris, what are you talkin bout? We got the van, we got the tech, and you have me! The most athletic person here!”

Chris shook her head, smiling at what she perceived as a naive child.

“My dear Jake. Not that. I mean, we need to, how do you say, pimp out the ride.”

The rest of the group let out a collective”Ohhhhhhhh”.

“What do you got in mind Chris?” Rich said, having appeared by Jake’s side sometime between them putting the tech in the truck and now.

“Well my undead friend, I have had the hindsight to book us a meeting with a good friend of mine who works at this place called F & M Auto Center, about 30 minutes from here. C’mon. I’ll drive.”

On the way there, Jenna told the group she had already created an Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and MySpace account for PNSN Investigations, all of which she would be in charge of.

“I highly suggest you guys get personal accounts on all of these apps so that you can connect with your audience on a more personal level.”

“Wait, wait, wait, when did you do all of this, and why MySpace? Didn’t that die out, like, 20 years ago?”

Jenna pulled out her phone, typing out another message at an ungodly speed before answering with a simple, ”Earlier.”

“Well that was...vague.”

The rest of the drive was more casual, split between Jeremy, Michael, and Jenna talking amongst themselves, Rich and Jake talking, and all of them catching up on each others whereabouts in general. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen of PSNS Investigations,welcome, to F & M Auto Center.”

 

The shop for the most part was abandoned, except for a short, scrawny Hispanic dude in the center, an impish grin on his face.

“Wassup y’all! The name’s Leo, i’ll be your mechanic and custom painter for the day.”

He walked around and made introductions, constantly fidgeting between shaking hands or giving hugs.

“Alright, so from what Chris told me, you guys are gonna need some serious protection, what with finding ghosts, and hunting demons. Fun Fact: My mom believed I was possessed by a demon, cuz my babysitter once put me into a fireplace, and I was perfectly fine. At least, that’s what she told me.”

Michael looked up to the ceiling and mouthed a heartfelt  _ ‘why’ _ , while Jeremy and Jake smiled at one another, happy to find another believer. 

“I’ll tell y’all more stories later, but for now,” he clapped his hands and rubbed them together vigorously, “Let’s get to work!”

 

“Wow, this is...the quickest I’ve seen anyone do...anything, actually,” Jake stared at his van in awe. 

“It doesn’t look like you should be kidnapping anyone now,” Jenna deadpanned. Everyone looked at her. “What? It looked like a mob van.”

“So, how much is this gonna-”

“Bap, bap, bap!” Christine managed to boop Jake’s nose and stop his sentence. “It’s a gift! Also, we’re all gonna be living in this thing for a while, so might as well pretty it up.”

“Good point.”

“So anyway,” Leo came out of the office, still trying to clean his hands of the motor oil. “Everything should be set up and working, and there’s still just enough room for you all to sleep in there. Y’know, if you all, like, cuddle up to each other.”

“Thanks again, Leo! It looks amazing! And, uh, say hi to your friends for me,” Christine entered the van, the rest of the group following. 

Rich just glanced once at the tech on one wall of the van before going to his usual corner and taking a seat. Jeremy took the passenger seat once more, Jake obviously in the Driver’s seat. Christine waited to Jenna to settle in a spot before flopping into her girlfriend’s lap like a tiny cat. Michael sighed softly, mumbling about  _ how this was all gonna be a waste probably but hey at least shit’s free.  _

“Alright, let’s get this actual show on the actual road,” Jake backed out of the auto shop and back onto the street.

 

“So, Heere, where are we going?” Jake asked, stopping the van at a fast food place. The others had already rushed inside, but both Jake and Jeremy claimed no hunger.

Jeremy looked up from his phone. “There’s this old high school where some kid died and the school had to ban football. Lambertville High.””

“Alright then,” Jake pursed his lips. “So ghosts?”  
“...that sounded like a question?” Jeremy replied, confused.

“Yeah, shit, sorry. My mind’s been muddled for a while,” Jake scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I meant to say, like, there’s a ghost in that place?”

“Yep,” The scrawnier boy replied. They stood in an awkward silence outside the van, leaning and waiting for their friends. “Actually, I uh...I wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“How do you and Rich know each other?”

Jake’s expression was a bit grim.

“Sorry- that’s probably really fuckin’ personal and-”

“I found him when I was looking for my parents.” Jake said, voice dull. “I was driving on the open road one night and he ended up stumbling in front of my van. I managed to slam on the brakes in the nick of time, and I just...had to help him.” The athlete looked to the fast food joint. “He was super out of it- I thought he was some drugged up kid or some shit. I remember him mumbling some shit about everything burning- I think he was running a real high fever. And since I had to stay under the radar, I couldn’t just take him to a hospital or something, so,” Jake shrugged. “I took care of him. Years later, we’ve just kind of...stuck near each other…” He smiled a little fondly. “What about you and Michael?”

“What about us?” Jeremy asked, defensive.

“I mean, how are you two friends?”

“Childhood neighbors and bonding over being the weirdos back in, like...elementary school,” Jeremy shuffled his feet. “He’s always stuck by me, even when I was being...a complete and utter idiot.”

“Sounds like a true bro, right there,” Jake nodded. 

The boys continued their casual talking till the rest of their friends came out, ready to go.


	5. Chapter Four - Lambertville High School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im bad at notes so   
> enjoy

“Here we are!” 

“It looks like shit,” Jenna deadpanned. “Perfect.” She was starting to get her professional camera ready while Jeremy looked down at his phone, reading up on the abandoned school.

“So Jer, what exactly happened to this place to make it spooky?” Michael asked, walking up next to his friend beside the van.

“A football player died here, but he wasn’t from here. He still haunts the place, because according to a report, some guys came here and began joking and pestering the spirit, and two of the guys ended up dead,” Jeremy shorthanded.

“Ah, the usual then. Coincidences taken too seriously,” Michael snorted. Jeremy bapped his best friend. “I’m just sayin’, it’s probably bullshit and this building is just a crumbling piece of sad Jersey history. Which there is a lot of.”

“If Michael doesn’t want to go in, I’ll come,” Christine offered. “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost.”

“Chris, was that a fucking  _ Ghostbusters  _ reference?” Michael stared at her.

“Jenna got me really into the old movies over the past semester,” She admitted, fidgeting with a strand of her short black hair.

“Hell yeah I did,” Jenna let out a snort of laughter, carrying her camera over her shoulder. “Now are we gonna do this shit or what?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael waved his hand. “Let’s go into the scary, half-burnt school.”

“Jenna, turn on the camera.” Jeremy said. She held up a thumbs up.

 

_ “Michael why the fuck did you taunt the fucking ghost oh my god-” _

“Jer, chill. He’s probably-” Michael took a deep breath before yelling. “A COMPLETE FUCKING WIMP!”

“You have a fucking deathwish!” Jeremy grabbed Michael by the arm as Michael’s voice echoed through the halls. “Oh my fucking god.”

Jenna was clearly trying to suppress her laughter while still holding the camera, turning it towards Jeremy once he separated himself from Michael.

“This man is insane, I swear,” Jeremy wheezed, running a hand through his own curly hair. There was a thud down the hall, making Jeremy visibly jump. “Alright, that’s it, we’re fucking leaving! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” He grabbed Michael’s hand and dragged them out of the old school building, back to the van with Jenna keeping up a foot behind them, camera off.

“Jeremy, chillax,” Michael was  _ laughing.  _

“It’s not funny, Michael! Seriously, one of these days a spirit or somethin’ is gonna kill you for being a ballsy douche.” Jeremy was panting and bracing himself on the side of the van, everyone looking at the two show stars. “Omigod, I can’t feel my chest.” He muttered.

“Jeremy, are you okay? Do you need a water?” Christine was in full momma-bird mode already, holding Jeremy’s face in her hands. “Rich, can you hand me the bottle of water?”

Rich threw it over to Christine from inside the van, still half-curled up in his corner. She caught it easily, handing it to Jeremy who practically ripped off the cap and took a big gulp. Everyone stayed quiet while Jeremy got himself together.

 

“You know Chris, a mobile private wifi hotspot would have been something to add.”

Despite the sass laced between the words, Jenna had a point, seeing as because of the haunted school nearby, they had to drive for almost an hour just to find a joint with free internet. Even then, there was only McDonalds, and as per post filming ritual, Michael and Jeremy usually only went to Steak & Shake. 

“Oh quiet Jenn. We’ll do that when we have to take the van in for a check up. Besides, we have to eat anyway, so why not just leave it as is?”

Jenna huffed, and went back to editing, with an amazed Jake, Michael, and Jeremy over her shoulder, peppered with exclamations of, “Yo Jeremy did you see that!”, “You see that heat signature Jake? That's a standard spirit aura right there!”, and many other comments. Noticeably distant from the festivities was Rich, who sat close to Jake, but made sure to distance himself from the others, a fact of which bothered Christine.

“Hey, Rich, can I talk to you for a sec?”

He looked from where he was sitting, and looked to Jake, who waved him off with a smile before turning back to watch Jenna work. They walked together to a corner booth away from the others and sat down across from one another.

“Listen Rich, I don’t care why you left, and how you came back, but all I want to know is what’s wrong. You keep distancing yourself from everyone except for Jake, and we all want to be friends with you.”

Rich stayed expressionless during her small spiel, and was quiet for about a minute afterwards. 

“I’m sorry about that, it’s just...” he sighed and looked back towards Jake,”For the time I was gone...some stuff happened and Jake was the one to help me through the aftermath. When you guys showed up I thought...I thought that you’d make him leave me and i’d be on my own again is all.” After he had finished talking, Rich looked quite...vulnerable. Open. Scared.  Although Christine didn’t know what exactly happened, it didn’t matter, because she had a friend in need all this time.

“Rich, we’re not going to steal him from you. In fact, we’re gonna be even closer now. We’ll be one big, ghost hunting family. Don’t you want that?”

At that point, Rich was in tears, and Christine quickly moved across the table to hold him, petting his head and murmuring soft praises. 

“It’s alright, Rich, it’ll be fine. You ready to go back to the others?”

Rich grabbed a napkin from off the table and wiped his face before taking a deep breath and nodding. When they arrived at the table, Rich bear hugged Jeremy and Michael at the same time, both of which deciding not to ask.

 

“Alright everyone. May I have your attention please?”

Everyone looked to where their small friend stood, an exaggerated pompous face two seconds away from cracking. She cleared her throat obscenely loud before beginning her impromptu speech.

“As the long standing sugar momma of Michael and Jeremy, it is to my great pleasure that I see them finally taking the initiative, and making their ghost hunting show into a career, a show which is now all of ours. Even those of us who work behind the scenes, and not on camera, we all provide something for the group, and I’m happy to say I consider all of you guys family. Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

They all clinked their beers together, and the celebration began in earnest, with a little bit of everything. Music, dancing, and everyone showing one another what they. Of course Jake and Jeremy began to compare notes on different demons, much to Michael’s dismay. The highlight of the night, however, was the arm wrestling contest between Rich and Jake.

“Go Rich go! You got this!”

“C’mon Jakey D! Crush him!”

In the end Rich won, but mostly because of his unnatural stamina.

All too soon though, they were all tired and burnt out, yet happy together. Curling up on the extremely cushioned sleeping section of the floor, they all dog piled on one another, Jake on the bottom, but mostly because he was practically a living heater. Within  an hour everyone was sound asleep. All except for Rich, who slipped out in the dead of night. If anyone had woken up, they would have felt an unnatural presence, and seen that Rich’s eyes were darker than the deepest pit, full of malice. Full of Evil. Full of...something that was far from human.


	6. Chapter Five - New York City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a gay chapter overall

“We’re heading right to New York,” Jeremy announced as everyone finished their diner breakfasts. “Brooke finally answered my texts asking about her old stuff- and long story short, she’s invited herself and her girlfriend to come along with us.”

“You and Brooke still talk?” Christine asked. “Also, she’s got a girlfriend?”

“When she isn’t busy with her vet studies or whatever,” He shrugged. “And yeah- Chloe Valentine, I think?”

“Wasn’t she the bitchy girl back in high school?” Jenna asked, not looking up from her phone.

“Jenny!”

“What? I’m being honest- Chloe was a complete bitch.”

“Yeah, well, Brooke says she’s decently mellowed out after high school. Anyway,” Jeremy paused, probably for dramatic effect. “They’re in New York, and they hate their apartment anyway, so...yeah, they’re tagging along.”

“The van’s gonna be pretty packed, then,” Michael took a sip of his drink.

“They’ll be worth it. Chloe actually comes from a pretty religious family, so she’s got a lot of knowledge on demons and ghosts and stuff. And Brooke’s good at research, so I won’t have to stay up as long because I’ve read some terrifying shit about the place we’re going to in the middle of the night.”

“Plus, the more the merrier, Michael,” Christine chirped with a smile.

“Anyway, let’s get moving. Brooke texted me and said if we get there by noon she’ll have lunch ready- and it’s about nine-forty right now.” Jeremy got up from his space at the end of the booth. Everyone nodded in agreement, except Rich. Christine glanced at him.

“Right.” He muttered. “Let...let’s go.”

 

“You know, when you told us Brooke had vet studies, I thought the apartment complex would look a little nicer.”

Only because it was the truth, Christine didn’t say anything. The building was drab and looked like it was leaning on one of the other buildings for support. Overall, the building was just depressing. Luckily for them, Brooke had already told them her apartment number, so they headed up to the second floor.

“69-C...This is their place.”

Jeremy knocked on the door, and was immediately greeted by the two girls.

“Took you long enough to get here.”\

“Don’t say that Chloe, after all he’s our savior.”

Jeremy smiled, knowing the two were playing, and gave them hugs, saying “I’m happy to see y’all too.”

Introductions were made, in  which Rich was noticeably more social, albeit awkward, and they made their way downstairs and out to the van. 

“Well here she is. The mobile headquarters of PNSN Investigations. Whatchu guys think?”

Brooke and Chloe peered in, admiring the tech, but they had one big concern.

”Do we have to sleep so close to one another? I mean, what if me and Brooke wanna get it on, if you know what I mean?”

They all laughed it off, explaining that space is limited, and plus, it was comfy sitting in a dog pile.

“Seems like it can’t be helped. Just know, if you guys get upset with Chloe’s moaning, you guys can only blame yourselves.”

A collective groan of disgust passed through the group, all of which hoped they never had to hear that.

 

The group decided to head to a hotel to stay at for the night before they would head out onto the road again. Jeremy was sitting on his bed in the room he and Michael were sharing, holding a pen in his mouth while looking at a laptop and an actual, physical map.

_ “Those things still get made?” _ Michael had asked before entering the shower.

_ “Yeah. Call me old fashioned, but I have a feeling that Google Maps won’t always work for us,”  _ Jeremy had replied.

Now he was sitting and listening to the shower run in the background. He took one last look at the map, all the locations he was planning on taking the group circled with small names and notes. He folded it up, turned off the laptop, and sandwiched the map into the laptop as he closed it. The bathroom door creaked open, drawing his attention as Michael stepped out, already in some form of pajamas with a towel resting on his shoulders with his hair still wet. He pushed his glasses back onto his pretty face. 

_ Wait, what- _

“Are you okay dude?”

Jeremy didn’t realize he was staring. He shook his head, voice cracking as he responded with “Yeah, I’m cool.”  _ Smooth, Heere, smooth. Act completely straight.  _ “I’m coolio, daddy-o.”

“If you call me Daddy-o ever again, I’m leaving.” Michael replied with a neutral expression. Both he and Jeremy stood in complete silence before laughing out loud together. 

_ Man, he’s got a nice laugh... _ Jeremy thought before shaking his head again.

“Yo, Jer, you sure you alright, dude?” Michael got his attention again. “You keep shaking your head.” 

“Yeah, uh...it’s nothing, I’m probably just need to sleep,” He waved his best friend away.  _ And maybe my brain won’t keep making me feel weird around my best friend… _

_ Right? _

 

“Um… Jake? Can you, uh, do me a favor?”

“Whatchu need Richy baby?”

_ “...I’m glad i’m in the shower.” _

_ “ _ You mind passing me a pair of your underwear? All of mine are dirty. And I don’t wear dirty underwear. So. Yeah. Please? _ ” _

There was a long moment of silence, which made Rich think Jake had left him hanging. Rich stepped out the shower, foregoing the towel cuz he still hadn’t washed his hair, and was about to open the door and peek his head out, when Jake just  **walked in.**

“OHSHITJAKELEMME-”

Jake grabbed Rich’s arm completely unfazed by the fact he was naked.

“I got the underwear, but...you alright dude? Somethin up?”

Rich shook his head, not trusting his voice to not crack, and took the underwear from Jake.

“Okay man...I’ll be in our bed if you need me. ”

Before he left he smacked Rich’s butt, and gave a thumbs up before leaving the bathroom, and a  **very excited** Rich behind.

_ “That man is gonna be the death of me.” _

Somehow, by the grace of God and lots of willpower, Rich managed to refrain from jerking off in the shower, much to his own surprise. However, his view of Jake in nothing but a pair of sweatpants made him want to go back and do just that.

“There you are, buddy. Had me thinking you had died for a second. C’mon,” Jake opened up his arms in a welcoming gesture, “I know how much you love your nighty night cuddles.”

“Dude, don’t call it that! It’s not my fault you’re comfy.” he said, curling himself up into Jake.

“So what do you prefer? Snuggling?”

“No.”

“Bed sharing?”

“No.”

“Spooning?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” he screamed, his blush even more prominent than before. Jake, however, just laughed at his friend’s embarrassment, and ruffled Rich’s hair.

“Oh don’t be like that Richy Baby! You know I love you. Now c’mon, let’s hug it out.”

“Jake, please no, STOP!”

Despite his struggling and protesting, Jake managed to get his arms all the way around Rich’s waist, hugging him from behind. After a long time, what seemed like  **too long** to Rich, Jake finally loosened his grip, now only holding him as they usually did together.

“Nighty night, Richy Baby.”

“Nighty night, Jakey D.”

Although it took him awhile to fall asleep, Rich did, his night plagued with images of fire, and the feeling that he was moving for some reason.


	7. Chapter Six - Boston

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONFESSIONS  
> for those who were asking with the last chapter

“So, we’ve got an actual route planned and everything?” Christine asked that next morning, sitting with Jeremy and Michael while waiting for their other friends to wake up and get some of the delicious continental breakfast.

“Yeah- I might have to edit it here and there later, but this is it,” Jeremy held the map up. Christine snatched it and unfolded it. She laid it out on the tiny table, Michael taking his bowl of oatmeal off to make room. Jeremy pointed to New York, marked with a red dot. “Obviously, we’re here. And we’ll be heading,” He dragged his finger along a drawn-on path before stopping on another dot. “Up to Boston. We’ll grab some lunch, then head south to,” He dragged his finger again, then tapped it on a circled location. “The Lizzie Borden house.”

“Oh, is that the lady with the creepy jump-rope song?”

“All jump-rope chants are fuckin’ creepy,” Michael mumbled, taking another tired bite of oatmeal.

“What’s creepy?” Jenna asked as she joined next to her tiny girlfriend, chewing on a strip of turkey bacon.

“We’re heading to the Lizzie Borden house,” Christine filled in. She grabbed the end of the bacon hanging out of Jenna’s mouth, ripping a piece off and eating it.

“Oh, cool. But we just filmed and uploaded an episode barely two days ago?”

“We were thinking about stockpiling on episodes in case something happens one week.” Jeremy was folding his map back up. Jenna raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t try to reason with him- I already told him he’s gonna end up having a heart attack from traveling to scary places every damn day,” Michael sighed, finishing his food.

“Fine, since more than Michael seems to be bitchy, we’ll take a vote when everyone gets down here- either we film today, or we can wait a few days in Boston.”

“I’d love to stay in Boston.” Christine chipped in.

“I kind of want to watch Heere scream like a bitch,” Jenna snorted.

“Jen!”

 

“I’m on the road again! I can’t wait to be on the road again!”

“Can you guys stop singing? I’m trying to take a nap.”

They had now been driving for about an  hour now, which was an hour filled with mandatory karaoke, which Rich had surprisingly participated in, until Jake told him to go to sleep, because he ‘looked like he ran to Europe and back overnight’, a fact that nobody could dispute.

“The thing is, he went fast to sleep last night. I should know, I was big spoon as per usual.”

Everyone’s head whipped around to Jake, who was still looking straight at the road, unaware of what he said, or of what it implied.

“What? Why’s everybody staring at me?”

Jake had started squirming at this point, unused to being under so much scrutiny.

“So, um, are you two dating?”

Jake glanced over at Jenna, alarm written all over his face.

“What, me? With Rich? No! No, no, it’s not like that! Ya, see, Rich has nightmares, and we found out that me holding him as we slept, stopped them, that's all. Y-yeah. That. ”

Needless to say, nobody believed him.  
“Okay, okay! I’ll spill. But be quiet about it please. I don’t want Rich to hear this.”

Everyone leaned in close, Michael looking back to see if Rich was awake or not, coming back and giving a thumbs up to Jake.

“Alright. So, what I said wasn’t a complete lie. Us cuddling helps with the nightmares, that part was true, and the part that we’re not dating, but...” he blushed and took a deep breath, before whispering, “I wish we were.”

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone processed the information given to them just now, until… the room  **exploded** with excitement, Jenna, Chris, Brooke,  **and** Chloe already making plans to set the two up, much to Jake’s dismay.

“Why did I bother to tell you guys this?”

Miraculously, Rich didn’t wake up from that.

 

“Whoa”

And ‘whoa’ pretty much summed up what everyone thought about the city. The lights, the cars,... pretty much everything about it. It was even more spectacular considering they were passing through was seemed like a shopping district of some kind. Which of course, sparked some habits in Brooke and Chloe.

“Oh my God, let’s go shopping! We could all use the ‘bonding experience’, right Christine?”

Well, funny you say it, cuz-”

“No way! We can’t use Christine’s money up like that! Right guys?”

“Michael, it’s really-”

“Yeah!” Rich, Jake, and Jeremy yelled in unison.

“Guys, this isn’t-”

“Christine’s money is to be used for PNSN Investigations, meaning equipment, upgrades, and-”

“ **SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME TALK!** ”

Everyone slowly looked towards a small, **very** angry Christine, who had somehow managed to sound like a veteran drill sergeant of 20 years.

“Now as I was  **going to say** , before we left, I had customized debit cards made for each of you, and since its debit, you guys don’t have to worry about the credit I would have to pay. You’re welcome.” They each got their cards, both Michael and Jeremy having matching Pac-Man themed ones.

“Let’s go shopping!”

And shop they did. They mostly went off in pairs, leaving Michael and Jeremy to their own devices, which led to them buying a  **lot** of retro game plushies.

“Michael, look! They have the entire Pac-Man plushie set!”

“Well get it then! We have to customize our section of the van after all! ”

After another hour of shopping at old game stories, Michael and Jeremy went back to the van, arms full of plushies and old gaming systems. Everyone else in a somewhat similar situation, except for two people who were noticeably missing. 

“Where’s Rich and Jake?”

“I dunno, but they should be here soon.”

They didn’t, and now it was getting alarming.

 

“Michael, Jeremy, you two search downtown. Brooke and Chloe, you guys head uptown. Jenna and I will stay here in case they come back. Once you guys find anything,” Christine held up her own phone. “Text the group chat, and we’ll meet up.”

“Got it,” Everyone nodded.

Michael and Jeremy raced off downtown. Michael kept a lookout on the streets while Jeremy was questioning some locals if they’ve seen “a mountain of a jock and his small friend who might look like he’ll pass out at any moment”. So far, unfortunately, no leads. That is, until they got near the docks. One of the tourists mentioned seeing two guys by Jeremy’s description- the short one had started freaking out when they got too close to the water, and the tall one had to try and calm him down. They disappeared back into the city.

Jeremy groaned, but still opened up the group chat and texted the others on the lead. Once he sent out the text, he and Michael found a bench, Jeremy flopping onto the bench with a sigh. Michael took a seat next to him.

“You think he’s okay?” Michael asked.

“Which one?” Jeremy replied dryly, staring up to the night sky.

“Either of them- but mostly Rich. Who would’ve guessed he was a hydrophobe?” 

“...I  _ hope  _ he’s okay,” Jeremy said honestly. The boys sat in silence until the van drove up. They walked to it, joining the girls. Jenna sat in the driver’s seat with Christine in the passenger seat. 

“The search is on,  _ part two, _ ” Christine tried to keep things light with her joke, but the drama student still held worry in her words.


	8. Chapter Seven - Boston, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stunning conclusion to your questions!!  
> oh and uhh Michael and Jeremy have a fight.  
> its uh  
> its pretty bad  
> dont hate me  
> it was Winter's idea

 

They spotted Jake outside the Boston Public Library. They almost didn’t catch him, as he was running around like a mad man. Chloe, despite wearing heels at the moment, managed to rush and tackle him to the ground. They got him back into the van.  
“Dude, what happened? Where’s Rich?” Brooke began to interrogate the tall athlete.  
“I don’t know,” He ran his hands through his own hair, similar to Jeremy’s nervous habit. “I- After we were at the docks, we went deeper back into the city, and I turn around for one moment, then he’s just…” He snapped his fingers. “Gone, just like that.”  
“Why were you outside the library, though?”  
“Someone said they spotted ‘a short, spazzy lookin’ kid’ walk past here. I still didn’t find him so I began to panic and…” He looked incredibly heartbroken, sniffling a little.  
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jeremy scooted up next to Jake, placing a hand on his back. “We’re gonna find Rich, and he’ll be a-okay. I promise, Jake. Nothing’s gonna happen to him. He’s surprisingly tough for a small guy.”  
Everyone muttered small agreements.  
“We just need to think of places that Rich would go.” Brooke reasoned. “Jake, you know him, so where would he go in a moment of high-stress?”  
“Normally he’d just scuttle back here to the van,” Jake looked over to Rich’s usually corner spot. “But he seemed...really out of it after the docks. He was muttering about something I couldn’t quite hear…”  
“Uh, guys?” Christine spoke up, the van stopping once more. “What’s small, has a box of matches, and doesn’t seem to be doing well?”  
“A sociopathic mouse?” Michael assumed.  
“Close- but the answer’s Rich.” She pointed out her window.   
Jake practically threw open the side door.

“Rich!”  
“Jake no wait!”  
Christine went to grab Jake, but by the time she reached where he was, he was out the van, and running full tilt towards Rich. Everyone bolted after him, afraid that Rich might get scared and run off again. Luckily he didn’t, and allowed Jake to pick him up bridal-style, clutching his box of matches as if his life depended on it. Once inside the van, Jake sat down in Rich’s corner of the room, still holding him tight, while Rich’s mouth kept moving at a remarkable speed.  
“Yo, Jake, what’s he saying?”  
“It...it sounds like…’no, no. water, water, bad, keep away, need the flames, fire is the source of my power?’ I dunno, but that’s what he’s saying.”  
Everyone paused for a moment, digesting the information given to them.  
“Well, he must have some-”  
“It’s a demon. There’s definitely a demon inside our friend.” Jeremy deadpanned, his expression serious.  
“Well Jer,It-”  
“Michael, we appreciate the realism, but that right there? That’s definitely a demon.”  
The rest of the group around Christine nodded, thoroughly convinced the answer was demons.  
“I-well-...GAH! Okay, I have to admit, this is possibly a demon at work. They’re real, okay? But besides that, how do we get him to snap out of it?”  
There was a long pause, the only sound Rich’s now clear mutterings of ‘water bad, need the flames, need the fire’. All of a sudden, Jake snapped his fingers, and said “I got it.”  
“You do? Well tell us!“  
“No time, but what I need you guys to do is gather some flammable trash, and put it in place like a campfire. I would do it myself, but if I leave, who knows what Rich would do.”  
The girls agreed to go out and get the tinder, while Jeremy and Michael stay behind with Jake. After what seemed like a long time, Christine poked her head in, and waved them outside, where, thankfully, a medium sized pile of trash was already burning.  
“Alright Rich, I’m gonna put you down now, okay? Okay.”  
Jake sat Rich down in front of the fire, the latter staring intensely into it. Suddenly, the fire turned and an intense electric blue, and then slowly died out, as if its very essence was sucked away. Rich shot up, and looked around, obviously scared.  
“Guys! What’s going on, whereamIwhathappENEDJAKEJAKE-”  
“Whoa, Rich calm down, calm down, we’re here, I’m here.”  
Gradually Rich calmed down, and leaned into Jake’s arms, until Jeremy cleared his throat.  
“Um,dude? Not to alarm you...but...you’re possessed by a demon.”  
Rich stared at Jeremy for a moment… and then dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“Rich!” Everyone outcried but Jake. He gently picked up his small friend, careful while he walked back to the van. The rest of the group looked at each other before following. Jeremy headed right next to Jake, looking at the tall boy’s face. It didn’t look scared or anything- it looked almost...contemplative.  
Jeremy opened the door of the van back up, letting Jake settle back into Rich’s corner, half-cuddling the smaller boy before entering as well, keeping his distance. The others slowly piled in, Jenna taking over the driver’s seat again.  
They drove around, finding a good hotel to stay in for the night. Everyone stayed relatively quiet, only speaking when needed. Jake continued carrying Rich, face still caught in thought. Christine handed him his key card, the two seemingly having a silent exchange of words before Jake left. She began handing the others their key cards, quietly telling everyone good night before departing with Jenna.  
Jeremy and Michael headed to their room, oddly distant with each other. Brooke kept a tight grip on Chloe’s hand as she lead the way, shaking a little. When they actually entered their room, Brooke held Chloe tightly in a bear-hug, almost crying into her girlfriend’s shirt. Chloe’s gaze was distant as she began to form a plan in her head.

“So Jeremy, I’ve been thinking about what happened… and I think that we should talk about it.”  
Jeremy glanced at Michael, who was on the edge of the bed wringing his hands in his PJs, having freshly showered, hair still wet.  
“What’s to talk about Michael? Rich is possessed by a demon, I mean you saw it yourself. That fire turning blue? That wasn’t from our plane of existence. That was demonic energy.”  
“Um,yeah, but like… what if in order to counter his hydrophobia, he started getting comforted by open flame?”  
Jeremy turned around to face Michael, very confused at what his best friend was saying.  
“Michael...what do you mean?”  
“Well I’m just saying that I did some research while you were in the shower, and I found that people who develop a phobia with something often find comfort in the opposite. Like if you’re afraid of heights, you love the ground, afraid to travel, you stay at home. It’s a common theme, so like-”  
“Wait, wait, wait.” Jeremy raised his hand, interrupting Michael in the middle of speech.  
“Are you trying to deny what we all saw, what we all agreed to?”  
“Well...yeah, pretty much.”  
“I can’t believe this. How can he. He saw it with his own eyes, we all did!”  
“Michael, the fire turned blue. Blue for christs sake! How do you explain that!?”  
“Well they did use trash, so maybe something in one of the plastic bags...”  
“Michael no. Stop, just stop. You’re being ridiculous right now, you know that? I know what it is. It’s not that you don’t wanna believe Rich is possessed, but the fact that I’m right, isn’t it?”  
Michael leaned back a little bit, shocked at what he was hearing. His face hardened, and he stood up and got in Jeremy’s face, before saying, “Oh so this is about you now, huh? Rich, just had a FUCKING PANIC ATTACK, and this is about you!?”  
“Hey, don’t take this out on me, because I was right for all of these years!”  
“DON’T TAKE THIS OUT ON YOU!? OH I’M SORRY, BUT WHO STARTED POINTING FINGERS, JEREMY!?”  
“YOU DID, YOU FUCKER, SAYING SOME BULLSHIT, AFTER ADMITTING IT IN THE VAN!”  
“I WAS STRESSED!”  
“WE WERE ALL STRESSED, YOU IDIOT!”  
“STOP CALLING ME NAMES, BITCH!” he said, shoving Jeremy into the nightstand. Jeremy pushed himself back up, and then shoved Michael against the foot of the bed.   
“Don’t you dare push me like that again, Mell.”  
Michael pushed him again, yelling “Oh yeah! What’re you gonna do about it!?”  
“THAT IS IT, MICHAEL! I WISH I NEVER MET YOU!”  
“SAME HERE, AND ON THAT NOTE, I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS ME THAT STOLE YOUR NINTENDO 64!”  
“WHAT!?”  
“YEAH, AND I WISH THAT I NEVER HAD THE STUPID IDEA NOT TO FOLLOW YOU AROUND FOR ALL THESE YEARS!”  
“IF YOU HADN’T FOLLOWED ME, YOU WOULDN’T BE HERE TODAY!”  
“YEAH AND THAT'S A BAD THING HOW? KNOW WHAT I AM NOW? A FAILURE AND A PIECE OF SHIT JUST LIKE YOU! AND YOU’RE ALWAYS GONNA BE A PIECE OF SHIT, BECAUSE YOUR MOM WAS A PIECE OF SHIT, WHO LEFT, BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T WANT TO WASTE HER YOUTH AWAY WITH YOU! AND WHAT DID YOUR DAD DO, HUH? NOTHING! YOU’RE GONNA BE JUST LIKE HIM, IN TRAILER PARK WITH NO PANTS, BECAUSE NO ONE LOVES YOU!”  
Michael let out his onslaught of words, but when he did, he say that Jeremy was close to tears already.  
“I’m going to Jenna’s room.”  
He grabbed his pajamas, and went to the door, avoiding any contact with Michael at all.  
“Jeremy, wait-”  
“It’s alright Mm-Michael. I know how you feel now.”  
He left, slamming the door behind him, and possibly the door of their friendship.   
Michael curled up on the floor where he was standing, and cried, only sleeping when the tears ran dry, and all that was left was an emptiness in his heart.


	9. Chapter Eight - The Lenox Hotel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Making up and making out  
> kinda

 

The next few days involved a lot of people tiptoeing around each other while waiting for Rich to recover from a very sudden fever. Jake mostly stayed in his and Rich’s room to help his best friend, with the others coming by in various shifts. Chloe and Brooke were working on some research together on Rich’s “condition”. Jenna and Christine went out into the city with Jeremy nearly every morning, obviously keeping the lanky boy away from his possibly-ex-best-friend.  
Which brings Michael to the now. He was sitting on the floor of his hotel room, trying to think of some way to apologize when Jeremy was constantly being kept busy. He let out a frustrated noise when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Taking it out, he just saw a text from Brooke into the group-chat. He opened the phone, turned off his notifications, and tossed the device onto the bed.   
Fuck this, I need some weed. He walked to his bag of personal stuff, digging through it. Fuck, it must’ve fallen out into the van. Michael facepalmed and dragged his hand down his face, going to grab his shoes before walking out of his room. As he closed the door, he heard another open, taking his attention towards…  
“Jake?”  
The aforementioned athlete turned to face Michael, rubbing his tired eyes.  
“Oh...hey, Mell,” His voice sounded nearly out of use. “What are you doing out this time of night?”  
“I, uh...dropped something in the van. Gotta go grab it.”  
“I’ll come with you.”  
“...What about Rich?”  
“It’s Chris’s turn to watch him and she told me to get some fresh air.”  
Michael nodded. “Alright.” He began leading the way down the hall, feeling a bit awkward while Jake trailed behind him like a tired puppy.  
  
“Found it.”  
Michael turned to sit on his butt, his small baggie of weed in hand, Jake coming to sit next to him.  
“Sooo… How’s Rich doing?”  
Jake sighed and leaned his head back against a chair, his face looking unusually gaunt, skeletal almost.  
“It’s...complicated. He’s gotten more comfortable around everyone else, and he’s back to eating without me having to feed him. We haven’t managed to find any other information about the de-, I mean, problem he has. And, uh...you and Jeremy?”  
Michael winced, and opened the bag, pulling out the rolling paper, and some of the weed.  
“Sorry man. Let’s just talk about something else...like… how often do you smoke?”  
Albeit forced, Michael was glad that Jake made the effort to change the subject.  
“Well I don’t smoke as much as I used to. I remember almost everyday after school, me and Jeremy would...” Michael trailed off, his heart hurting even more at the memory, his eyes already tearing up.  
“Jake, I...I fucked up real bad man...” Michael sobbed, his friend scooting closer, providing a shoulder for him.  
“I-I-I got mad and-an-now… Now I lost my best frieeeend!” Michael cried. Jake murmured soft words to him, and held him until the tears stopped.  
“You good bro?”  
Michael sniffled, and wiped his face on his sleeve, before nodding.  
“Good. Cuz what you got to do is go up to him, and admit that you were 100% wrong, and that you regret everything you say. You understand that right? Because you better. You have to tell him you love him, and that you’ll do anything, anything, to make things right. Now go. Go to him, Mell!”  
And go he did, filled with a sense of purpose, ready to do his best for his bro to reclaim him.

“Considering what’s been goin’ on, he’ll most likely be in Jenna’s room. Aaaaand...Here it is.”   
Michael took a deep breath and knocked on the door.  
A muffled “Who is it?” from Jenna sounding from behind the door.  
“Jenna, it’s me, Michael. Can you open the door and let me and Jeremy talk? There’s something I need to say... in case Jeremey doesn’t talk to me again.” Michael choked out, having to take a deep breath before he started crying again. After a long pause, he heard the door unlock, Jenna slipping past him.  
“Sorry for the wait, Jeremy was in the shower. He’s expecting you.” she said, before walking down the hall. Michael braced himself and walked in to find a clean, albeit sad Jeremy on the edge of the bed.  
“Michael there’s nothing to say, what you did-”  
“What I did was unacceptable, and so that means I have a lot to say, so can you listen?”  
Jeremy nodded, and locked his hands together, and waited for Michael to talk.  
“Listen Jeremy. What I said...I’m not gonna deny it, had a small ring of truth. There have been times where i regretted living in Winona, and being dirt poor, but I stuck through it...because I love you man.. Probably more than just as bros. And I know I can never make up for it, but...” Michael walked forward, taking Jeremy’s hands in his, “if you want me to leave, I’ll leave, and never come back. But before I go...” Michael leaned forward, pressing his lips to Jeremy’s the skinnier of the two tensing up, before relaxing into the kiss. Pulling back, Michael said, “I wanted to do that for the longest. See ya Jer Bear.”  
And with that Michael turned and went to leave the room, but before he did, Jeremy grabbed his hand.  
“Michael… I don’t want you to leave. But… I know you want more, and...I think I want to take some time to think about it. Give me a week, and I’ll have my final answer. Okay,bro?”  
“O-okay.”  
They hugged, and Michael left, a ray of hope for the future in his heart.

Michael walked back to his room, only to find Chloe waiting outside it, leaned against the wall and staring down the hall. Michael cleared his throat to draw her attention.  
“There you are, Mell,” She said, looking Michael up and down. “You and Jeremy make up?”  
“...Yeah? Uh, why are you here?”  
“We need to talk.” The way she said it reminded Michael of a parent about to break some bad news to their kid. He gulped.  
“A-alright, let me just…” He unlocked his room and entered. Chloe followed, closing the door behind her. “What’s-”  
“What’s up is that Rich is clearly worse- and don’t you dare write this off as sickness or some bullshit like that,” She practically hissed, eyes glaring like a cat’s. “We need to find out what exactly is going on with him.”  
“...Why are you telling me this? I’m the group skeptic,” Michael asked blankly.  
“Exactly,” Chloe replied, making the boy blink in surprise and confusion. “Look, there’s a demon at play here, and you’ll probably be the most immune to its effects. A demon is only as strong as its vessels allow it to be.”  
“As strong as its vessels allo- wait, are you implying Rich let a demon or whatever the fuck use him like a fucking puppet?”  
“You remember how he was way back when, Mell. A tiny, chubby loser with a broken family and nothing else to lose.”  
“Yeah, well, that was nearly five- or like...six years ago. People can change in that amount of time.”  
“As drastically as he has?” Chloe shook her head. “Mell, when the time comes, I might turn you into a believer. There’s shit that can’t be explained by your science.”  
“You sound like my grandmother,” Michael mumbled.  
Chloe snorted. “Anyway, Jenna’s already tweeted out that there’s a possibly show hiatus-”  
“Wait what-”  
“-Because we’re heading out towards a demon cave tomorrow. Hold onto your skepticism, because we might need a clear mind.”  
Michael went completely quiet as Chloe left.  
“Why the fuck does everyone keep saying ominous shit and not answering my fucking questions?!” He screamed into the empty room. 


	10. Chapter Nine - PNSN Hiatus, Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winter makes an appearance!

 

“Alrighty team, let’s start packin’. I want us out of this hotel before 3, you got it team?  
“Yes Ma'am, Sergeant Canigula!”  
“Good. Now git!”  
And so at ten in the morning, PNSN Investigations finished a video and mass social media wave, informing their viewers that they were to be on a hiatus for a while, but there was at least five unposted videos they had stockpiled from earlier in their career, that they would upload soon enough. Suitcases was stuffed, jokes were made, and overall, everyone was glad to move out, a speech made earlier by Chris saying “Focus on the silver lining god dammit!” being the cause for this. Noticeably absent, however, was Rich, who hadn’t been seen all day.  
“Yo Jake, you know where Rich disappeared to?”  
“He might still be in his room! Can you get him for me? I’m a little busy here!”  
Michael agreed, taking Christine with him, just in case, going up the stairs, and finding that Rich’s door was cracked open.  
“Rich? You in there buddy?”  
“C’mon sweetheart, it's time to go.”  
No answer.  
“Should we go in?”  
Christine nodded, and pushed open the door to find Rich packing up, albeit very slowly, with some earbuds in. He looked up as they entered, and took one bud out, smiling apologetically.   
“Sorry guys. I,uh...wasn’t really paying attention.”  
Rich looked rather pale and sickly, most likely from not eating as much as he should. More importantly he looked...scared. Which explained why he was taking his time.  
“Rich, you okay man?”  
“Yeah i’m good. I know-”  
“No,no. What Michael means are you okay?”  
Rich sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed, wringing his hands nervously.  
“I...I want to go, but at the same time there is this...voice in the back of my head that’s pulling me back. I think it might be the...you know. Thing.”  
“I feel you, dude. Having a SQUIP inside your brain might be troublesome.”  
Rich and Christine turned to Michael, very confused at what he said.  
“Uh, Michael? What’s a SQUIP? ”  
“It’s an acronym. I just made it up. It stands for The Spirit Questionably and Uselessly Inhabiting People. Or SQUIP for short.”  
“Well, it is better than generic titles.”  
“True. That being said, you ready to go, Rich? If you’re not up to it, we can leave later when you’re ready?”  
Rich thought for a moment and shook his head.  
“No, if we don’t leave now, the SQUIP might not let me. Let’s move, I want this thing out of me as soon as possible.”

“Jenna, you mind taking over the driving for a while?” Jake asked once the van was packed up. He held the keys towards her. “I want to keep an eye on Rich.”  
“Yeah, that’s cool with me,” She grabbed the keys. “Yo, Chris! Mind bein’ my copilot?” She called to the other side of the van. The tiny girl already ran to the passenger seat, grinning like an excited puppy. “...That answers that question.” She chuckled.  
Jake just nodded, heading to the side door and joining Rich inside. He took a seat next to the small boy, who looked like he was about ready to pass out. They looked at each other for a moment, Jake giving a small, almost unsure smile. Rich didn’t reply, instead he leaned his head on Jake’s shoulder and fell asleep in a few seconds.  
Jake wrapped an arm around Rich, pulling him even closer while everyone joined into the van. Jeremy and Michael sat next to one another, still looking a bit awkward with each other’s presence, but more of a ‘middle-school-dance-date’ kind of awkward rather than ‘we-had-a-bitter-fight-and-refuse-to-make-up’ kind of awkward. They were still getting comfortable, awkwardly bumping hands and quickly apologizing. Jeremy decided to just place his hands in his lap and Michael stuffed his into his pockets.   
Chloe and Brooke were the last to enter and settle, unapologetically in each other’s spaces. Brooke wrapped an arm around Chloe’s arm, cuddled up into her girlfriend’s side. Chloe held a notebook in her free hand, opening it up in her lap moments after sitting down. The two girls began quietly conspiring with each other, pointing and writing into the notebook while the drive began. Michael tried to look over at whatever they were doing, but Chloe sent him a bone chilling glare that made him mind his own business.   
Alright, so, no touching anyone or looking at anyone for this ride. Got it. This should be really easy. Michael reasoned, looking at the floor. Reeeeeally easy.

Past Michael was an idiot.  
Past Michael was a major fucking idiot.  
Two hours into this car ride to wherever the fuck and shit had descended to chaos. Michael started his usual fidgeting when he was starting to feel bored sitting around, which then lead to Chloe snapping at him to stop because it was driving her crazy, and that lead to Jeremy surprisingly lashing out at Chloe in Michael’s defense. So then there was this screaming match until Christine, from the front seat, told everyone to shut the hell up before Jenna told everyone’s secrets to the PNSN Twitter. Of course, that made them hush up real quick.  
So now, they were all sitting in silence, with Michael trying not to start up his fidgeting again, Chloe going back to her notebook with Brooke asleep on her, and Jeremy staring off into space. Somehow, despite the fight earlier, Jake and Rich still managed to sleep through it all. Michael took his hand out of his pocket, placing it onto his thigh and trying to keep silent as he tapped his fingers on his leg.  
“We’re coming up on a rest stop,” Jenna said from the driver’s seat, breaking the silence.  
Fucking finally. Michael thought, letting out an actual sigh. He felt the van begin to turn off the freeway, slightly tilting towards Jeremy. He managed to lose his balance while sitting somehow, landing right on his best friend’s shoulder, snapping him out of his spaciness with a slight squawk.  
The van came to a full stop as Michael and Jeremy retracted from each other, muttering apologies. Chloe nudged Brooke awake, with the blonde girl letting out an adorable, puppy-like yawn while muttering “What’s going on? Why’d we stop?”  
Rich managed to blink himself awake, looking around with a bit of alarm. His movements roused Jake as well, who stifled a yawn while putting a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. Rich was quick to look at Jake’s hand, tensed up for a moment before relaxing.  
“Everyone, get the fuck out, stretch, grab some snacks, do whatever the hell, just meet back here in twenty-five minutes,” Jenna briefed before hopping out of the van.  
“Yes, mom,” Most everyone (mostly Michael and Chloe) responded with dripping sarcasm, opening the side door to let everyone out.

Jake and Rich immediately went to the bathroom with one another, while the rest of the crew was spread throughout the stop, with Michael and Jeremy getting slushies together, still maintaining that ‘middle-school-dance-date’ tension.   
“Man, he’s been like this ever since we kissed. I know he said give him a week and I respect that, but that doesn’t mean he has to act all weird about it...”  
“Hey Michael.”  
Michael jumped, Jeremy call him out of his own head.  
“Uh, yeah, what’s up?”  
“What do you think’s gonna happen at the cave? Cuz like...I’m just...I’m scared, to be honest with you.”  
Michael walked over to Jeremy and put his arm around his waist, Jeremy surprisingly not pulling away from the contact, but leaning into it.  
“It’ll be alright Jer Bear. It’s no different from when it was just me and you. You believed back then, so what’s changed now, except extra caution?”  
Jeremy nodded, and put his head on Michael’s shoulder, looking up into his deep, brown eyes.  
“I approve the gay and all, but you can you guys pay first. I wanna take a floor nap before someone else comes in.”  
Jeremy and Michael jumped up, Jeremy unconsciously grabbing Michael’s arm. Blushing, the two made it to the counter, where a amused cashier stood, a dude with blond hair and tired blue eyes, the name tag reading ‘Winter’.   
“You know, you guys should totally date, in case you know, some ancient evil thingamadoodle kills you.”  
The two boys stood in confusion, staring at the cashier, who was busy scanning their items, seemingly oblivious to what he just said. Noticing the awkward silence, Winter looked up.  
“What? Something I said? I do watch y’alls channel. Unless...you guys aren’t PNSN Investigations?”  
The two boys let out a breath, the situation cleared.  
“Oh yeah we are. Hope you don’t mind the hiatus.”  
“It’s no biggie. I know exactly why you need to do it. After all I’m the puppet master… my username on YouTube that is. Anyways, your 25 minutes is almost up, so it’s nap time. Peace.”  
On that note, the cashier collapsed to the ground, promptly falling asleep on the floor, leaving Michael and Jeremy to let themselves out, Jake and Rich rather close behind them.  
“Alright team. Let’s keep on drivin. There should be a motel somewhere ahead, and that’s where we’ll sleep for the night. But first we gotta get there, so hurry up.”  
Jenna climbed back into the driver’s seat, everyone else piling back into their respective places in the back, before driving off towards the distance.


	11. Chapter Ten - PNSN Hiatus, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i changed my mind   
> im gonna dump and make FCC (Fine,Cool, and Chill) here equal in chapters to BF(Being Found)  
> so ye  
> also confessions and some implied sax-ophones and Jake does somethin stupid  
> : )

 

“Yo,Michael. We’re here.”  
Michael opened his eyes as Jeremy gently shook him awake.  
“Shit, I already fell asleep. And on Jeremy’s shoulder.. Nice.”  
Michael stood up and cracked his back, following Jeremy out of the van, where a flashing neon sign read ‘Shitty Motel’.   
“Well at least they’re honest, right Jer Bear?”  
“Hm? Oh yeah, yeah.”  
Jeremy was distracted, most likely from what they were talking about earlier.  
“I’ll leave him be for now. ”  
Michael opened up the door for Jeremy, coming in after him to find…  
“Hey! It's you gays again! Fancy seeing you here.”  
Winter, the cashier from the gas station was sitting at the front desk, that same tired smile on his face.  
“You guys know this guy?” Christine asked, an eyebrow raised.   
“Um, yeah. He recognized me and Michael when we was getting slushies. But, uh, how did you get here so fast?”  
“Count it as magic, fast car, or plot convenience. Your choice.”  
“Wait what.”  
“ANYWAYS!” Winter yelled, turning around, grabbing four keys and tossing them to Michael, Chloe, Christine, and Jake, “Here’s you guys room keys. Pairing is up to you, but I think y’all have a routine set. Night.”  
Winter collapsed to the ground again, scaring Everyone except for Jeremy and Michael.  
“Um...is he-”  
“He’s fine. That’s apparently his thing.”  
“Oh...okay...”  
Deciding who would sleep with who, which was pretty much the same as before, they went to their respective rooms, deciding to set out for the cave the next day.

Jake laid on the bed, waiting for Rich to get out of the shower.  
“I hope Rich will be alright tomorrow. We are going to a demon cave after all.”  
Jake looked up as he heard Rich enter the room, hair and body still wet. Jake had to tear his eyes away from his abs, only to notice that Rich was freaking out, to say the least. His eyes were wide and blown out, his breath ragged and shallow, and his hands fidgeting erratically.   
Jake ran up to Rich, and guided him towards the bed, sitting him down and holding him tight.  
“It’s alright Richie Baby. It’s alright.”  
Jake stroked his friend’s head, and murmured words of comfort, calming him down after a long while.  
“You feel better, buddy?”  
“Yeah..yeah I’m good. Thanks Jakey D.”  
“No problem Richie Baby.” Jake smiled, glad to be of use.  
“Hey Jake?”  
“Hm?”  
“When did you come up with that nickname for me?”  
Jake blushed, and looked away from Rich.  
“Hey it’s fine man.” Rich said, turning Jake’s head to face him, giving him a quick peck on the lips.  
“I like it. And can you do me a favor?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Don’t tell anyone about this.”  
And with that, Rich turned and got comfy against Jake, promptly falling asleep.  
“I’ll keep him safe. And the only way to do that...is to keep him away from that cave.”

Jeremy nervously bounced his leg as he sat on the bed, trying not to look towards the bathroom door as he waited for Michael. You’ve got to tell him, Heere. Tomorrow, there’s gonna be a fucking demon cave, and-  
The door opened, interrupting his thoughts, and Jeremy had to gulp down his worries as Michael stepped out, ruffling his hair with a towel to dry it. Jeremy took a deep breath.  
“Michael, can we talk?”  
Michael paused, looking at Jeremy. “...Yeah, sure...what’s up?”  
“Uh,” The skinny boy was trying to get his words back together. Dammit you had this in your head, Heere. Get it together! “Did...uh…” He let out a noise of frustration, muttering a ‘fuck it’ before walking over to Michael. He put his hands on the tan boy’s shoulders, startling his friend a bit. “I’m gonna do something stupid, so feel free to stop me.” Jeremy managed to say before kissing Michael.  
Michael squeaked in surprise before relaxing and kissing back, moving his hands to Jeremy’s hips, drawing the other boy closer to him. They seperated, needing air. Michael pressed his forehead to Jeremy’s, grinning like an idiot.  
“So I guess you like me too?” He asked.  
“Yeah,” Jeremy practically whispered. “I think I’ve actually...loved you. For a long time.” He turned a little red at his own admission. “But I’m an idiot-”  
“You’re my idiot,” Michael chuckled.  
“-And if something happens tomorrow, I don’t want it to happen without you actually knowing that I,” Jeremy pecked Michael’s lips. “Love you.” He nuzzled his face into Michael’s neck. “And I’ve always have,” He pressed a kiss onto his neck. “And I always will.”  
Michael was flustered, trying to find his own words to construct a response. He couldn’t, so he instead moved his hands to grab Jeremy’s face and move it off his neck so he could kiss him again, this time much harder and with much more fire to it, as if trying to put all his feelings into one action.  
They began making their way to the bed, falling backwards onto it while still making out. Everything was quick to escalate in the dark motel room.

In the next room over, things were escalating in a different sense. Jake moved out of the bed, movements careful and cautious as to not wake up Rich. He moved the blankets to wrap up Rich, gently gave him a kiss on the forehead, and put on his day clothes back on. Jake snatched his bag up and walked out of the room. He walked to Jenna and Christine’s room, knocking on the door.  
Jenna opened the door up, rubbing her eyes. “What the hell are you doing up?” She grumbled.  
“I need my keys back,” Jake tried keeping his tone as even as possible, but Jenna looked reluctant.  
“Why?” She asked.  
“...I want to go out for a late night drive?”  
Jenna raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. “Whatever, it’s none of my business.” She turned away. Jake just barely managed to catch the keys that were thrown right into his chest.  
“Thanks, Jenna!”  
“Whatever! Close the fucking door!”  
Jake did just that before turning to walk to the van. He opened the door, tossing his bag into the passenger’s seat before getting into the driver’s seat. Digging through the backpack quickly, he took out his phone that Christine had bought for him back in Boston, opening up Google Maps. He looked at the location displayed on screen, nodded once, then threw the device back into his bag. He started the van, backing out of the motel parking lot. He stayed quiet as he drove towards some forest nearby, supposedly where the cave was supposed to be housed.  
Thoughts were racing through his head, both rational and irrational. He kept telling himself had to do this tonight, that Rich was suffering too much to put this off any longer. He gripped the wheel tighter, pulling up to the small opening next to the road in the forest. Getting out of the van, Jake looked at the forest, practically feeling the evil presence. Demons already took your parents, His mind told him. Are you going to let them take the boy you love too?  
...No, I’m not. Jake nodded, confirming to himself that he was going to do this, and he was doing this tonight, by himself because the others wouldn’t understand- they’d never seen the painful shit Rich had to go through over the years.  
Jake glanced at the van, then headed into the dark forest.  
Alone.  
For Rich, His mind repeated.


	12. Chapter Eleven - The Demon’s Den

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUAHAHA  
> I MAKE MY APPEARANCE!   
> also shit hits the fan

 

“WAKE THE FUCK UP!”  
Michael leapt out of bed, knocking a naked Jeremy to the floor.  
“What the fuck is going on!”  
“I don’t know!”  
They both scrambled to put some clothes on, both of them accidentally putting on the other’s pants from the night before, bursting into the hallway. Everyone else was awake and comforting a panicked Rich.   
“Ay guys, what’s goin’ on?”  
Christine looked up from beside Rich, her brow furrowed.  
“Rich here says that he woke up just now and Jake wasn’t there. He figured he had went downstairs or something, but when he got there, he found that the van was gone.”  
Jenna came running up form the stairs as Chris finished talking, and nodded.  
“He’s right. The van is gone.”  
“Shit. You said last you saw him was last night asking for the keys, right Jenna?”  
“Yep. He had some lie about taking a late night drive.”  
“I know where he went.”  
Everyone turned to find Winter leaning against the wall, hiding in the shadows like an anime character.  
“He went the road, towards that demon cave y’all fou- I mean… talking about. Yeah, that’s it.”  
“Well we know where he went, but how do we get there?”  
“Call a cab?”  
“Walk?”  
“Again, I can help y’all with that. I got a Dodge Durango I stole a while back on the side of this here motel. Here,” Winter tossed the keys to Jenna, before saying, “Go get your friend now. He needs his friends right about now.”

“There’s the van!” Christine pointed out. Jenna turned the car to stop beside the van. Everyone was quick to rush out.  
“His bag is in there,” Jeremy confirmed after looking into the window. “So is his phone.”  
“He’s dead.”  
They all looked at Rich as the boy stared at the forest, gaze distant.  
“There’s no possible way he’d be alive...he’s dead,” He let out a breathless chuckle that borderlined a sob. He fell to his knees, Christine and Jeremy hurrying to his sides. The small boy actually was sobbing, but there was a terrifyingly fearful grin plastered on his face as he tried to wipe away his own tears.  
“He’s gonna be alive,” Christine tried to reassure, but Rich just...stared with teary eyes into the forest. “And we can’t find him without you, Rich.”  
“Just…” Rich was still shaking. “Walk.” Just like before, back in Boston, he passed out.  
Jeremy checked to make sure he was still alive before looking to Michael. “Can you carry him?” He asked. Michael nodded.  
The group headed into the forest, with Michael carrying Rich like he was a child getting a piggyback ride. Except Rich was passed out, probably because of the SQUIP. Chloe began moving to the front of the group, holding something that was around her neck and quietly muttering to herself in something that sounded like Spanish.  
“Guys?” Christine spoke up. “Jake always wears a red jacket right?”  
“Yeah?” Jeremy confirmed cautiously.  
She pointed ahead towards what looked like a partially collapsed cave, where a lump of red was lying in front of it.  
“Shit.”

They all surged towards the edge of the cave, Michael gently setting Rich down before taking off with the rest of the crew. Chris got there first, pulling the smaller rocks out of the way. Soon enough everyone was helping out, but all too soon the rocks were too big to move.  
“Fuck! C’mon we gotta do something. What about a stick? Use it as a lever, and climb up and take down the rocks on top!”  
Considering it was the only option they had, they spread out, eack looking for a strong enough branch.  
“I got one!” Jeremy called, holding up a seemingly stout tree branch. Running back to the cave entrance, they boosted him up, crowding below in case he fell.  
“Alright, I’m gonna push the rock on three. One...two...three!”  
Jeremy jammed the branch under the boulder, the large rock shifting for a moment, before the branch snapped in half with a loud crack and Jeremy tumbled back into Michael’s arms.  
“You good, Jer Bear?”  
“Yeah, I’m good. But what now?”  
All of a sudden, Rich came out of nowhere, shoving past everyone and climbing to the boulder Jeremy had tried to lift.  
“Rich, what are you- HOLY SHIT!”  
Everyone moved out the way as Rich picked up the boulder with ease, tossing it about ten feet, all the way on the side of the road. Everyone watched as Rich threw the rocks in a similar manner, even the ones much bigger than any of them.   
“Wait a second… what’s going on with his eyes...”  
“Ay guys, look at his eyes.”  
Upon closer inspection, it was seen that Rich’s eyes were glowing with an intense, electric blue.  
“Ain’t that the same color that fire turned back in Boston?” Jeremy asked, his voice wavering. No one answered, the question rhetorical  
“Look! Jake, he’s under there!”  
“Holy shit you’re right! Keep going Rich!”  
Soon enough Jake was uncovered, his legs bleeding, and contorted at an unnatural angle, and in his arms was an old book.  
“What’s that-”  
Quick as a wink, a blast of hot air whooshed past everyone, Jake and Rich along with it.  
“Whoa!”  
They all whipped around, Rich running at an impossible speed, Jake in his arms and a cloud of dust behind him. More importantly…  
“Guys...look at the ground.”  
Michael looked to where Jeremy was pointing, an electric blue trail of fire leading to where Rich had went.  
“Well at least we’ll know where they’re going. Let’s follow it, just in case it fades.”

They all headed back to the vehicles, three in the van and three in the Dodge. They followed the dying flame trail to a hospital, hurrying to scamper to the building after getting out of their respective modes of transportation.  
They made it to the front desk, Chloe slamming her hands down the wood and startling the receptionist who was blankly reading something on the computer. The guy almost fell out of his chair, but recovered with a quick dusting off of his work clothes and readjustment of his glasses. “Who’re you here for?” He asked, pretending he didn’t just reenact a comedy skit just two seconds ago. The nametag on his blue-green scrubs read ‘Essiah’.  
“Jake Dillinger,” Chloe replied. Essiah’s eyes flash with recognition.  
“Oh! You’re the guys Winter warned- told me about,” He grinned. “Yeah, your friend with the broken legs and the tiny one are in the third one down that hall.” He pointed. “Winter also told me to tell you to leave his Dodge here or I’m allowed to break the rest of your legs. His words.”  
“Alright then, thanks!” Christine was quick to input, grabbing her the hands of the two people closest to her, in this case Brooke and Jeremy, and rushed down the hall to the door.  
Everyone looked to each other, as if silently trying to choose who would reveal what was behind door number one. Christine took the responsibility, taking a deep breath and turning the knob.  
The room was the usual hospital white, with splashes of blue-green here and there. In one bed, there was Jake, was already awake and staring at his bed. Christine practically pounced at the boy, freighting and hugging him.  
“Ow, ow- fuck, Chris, I’m injured.”  
“Oh, sorry!” She squeaked and pulled away, the rest of the group gathering around his bed. Chloe walked up to his side and punched him in the arm.  
“What the fuck was that for?!” He hissed, rubbing the arm.  
“For running off into the night, you dick.” She spat back. “That was a seriously stupid move, Dillinger.”  
“Yeah, well, you’ll think it’s less stupid when I tell you guys what I found out.” His tone was grim as a funeral director’s.  
“Fine,” Chloe took a seat in one of the provided chairs, crossing her legs. “Tell us exactly what was worth losing your legs over.”  
“Alright, you asked for it…”


	13. Chapter Twelve - Stillwater Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explanations and plot

 

“Okay, I don’t remember much about that cave, except that there was a shit lots of blood, corpses of some creature,...and this book.”  
Jake held out the book for everyone to see and then put it back in his lap.  
“I grabbed the book, and as soon as I did, the place was on fire, so I bolted. I was almost out when the rocks came down, and crushed my legs.”  
“Shit. Did it hurt?”  
“Nah, I passed out immediately before I could feel anything. But when I did, I had this kind of fever dream almost,of Keanu Reeves-”  
“Keanu Reeves?”  
“Shut up Jeremy, I’ll explain. Of Keanu Reeves, but he was evil. He had these electric blue eyes, solid throughout, and lines of that same color in patterns along his face When he saw me he said some shit like, ‘You were not supposed to be here’ and ‘You best be glad my host has an affinity with your gender as well as I’ before I completely passed out. Now this makes sense, cuz this book right here,Jake said, patting the book for emphasis, “Explains everything. I will warn you guys, don’t be fooled by how it’s structured.”  
Jake opened the book and was about to read the first entry, but Jeremy interrupted him, saying “What do you mean, ‘how it’s structured’”?  
Jake sighed, and look up.  
“The SQUIP, as you’ve dubbed him Michael, wrote this, … and it’s a fuckin’ movie teen diary from the 2000s. Anyways,...” Jake cleared his throat and started. “Dear Diary, my name is Dannor. Today I was admitted into the Overlord's army. There’s this boy I like, a Baron by the look of it, who’s in my platoon. This should be fun!”  
Over the course of several hours, Jake told the story of a lowly demon, who had the power to possess others and steal their energy. Over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, this demon took over body after body, until it became the Overlord itself. Until it got bored…  
“Dear Diary, I have grown tired of this place. I hear there is another world, much nicer than this one. I think I’ll decimate this place, and take over that one.”  
“That must be here, right?”  
“No Chris,” Michael said, pointing to Jeremy, “That’s Heere. The SQUIP’S talkin’ bout Earth.”  
“Ha,ha, funny joke, shut up.” Jake snapped. He cleared his throat and continued.  
“Dear Diary, my own physical form has been destroyed, but that makes no difference to me. If anything, it’s a plus. There’s a very sexy human here, by the name of Keanu Reeves. I’ve watched all his movies, and have took the liberty in fashioning this new Astral form after him. I will have to hide my Diary, lest anyone discovers my secrets.”  
Jake took a deep breath, and put the book down, his expression solemn.  
“So…. whatchu guys think.”  
“Well I think, in my infinite nursely wisdom, that you guys should get a move on. You got a demon to exorcise! ”

After chasing off the nosy receptionist/ nurse Essiah away, they started researching holy sites, and cross referencing them with a little notes section the SQUIP had wrote in his diary.  
“What about this place? The uhhh… Mount Washington? That’s near here.”  
Jake shook his head, flipping through the book as he spoke.  
“No go. In here it says that he placed a spell on the place that drives anyone who knows about him into ‘a realm of eternal madness and suffering’. His words, not mine.”  
After several more hours of searching, Jake was the one to break the silence.  
“I got it!”  
“What, what is it!”  
“Finally, our teen girl has said some specifics. According to the diary, there’s this place that we call Mystery Hill, in Salem. Apparently there’s a race of what we called angels, and he calls some long complicated name I can’t pronounce, that tried to kill him there. He won, but the bodies there left an extremely potent anti-SQUIP zone. These spirits are very receptive to human prayer, so we could do the exorcism there!”  
“Yeah, but what about Rich? He’s possessed by the thing, how will he act once we get near it?”  
“I dunno, but we’ll figure it out when we get there. If we have to, we can tie him up or something.”  
“Alright now you guys really gotta go. He’s my patient, now git, before I break your legs too.”  
Not wanting to chance it with the nurse, they left as quick as possible, setting up the van for when Jake would be discharged in the meantime.

After everything was handled about the van, Jeremy clapped his hands together to get his friends’ attention.  
“Guys, I’ve got some good news to say,” He said. Jenna had her phone out in an instant. “Jenna, put the phone away-”  
“At least let me tweet whatever you’re about to say,” Jenna hissed back.  
“Alright, alright,” He held up his hands defensively. “Anyway, uh.” He looked to Michael, who gave him a thumbs up. “Last night, me and Michael finally, uh...made our feelings known.”  
“Disgusting,” Chloe deadpanned. Brooke bopped her girlfriend’s shoulder.  
“I think they’re cute,” She pouted. “Besides, this was a long-time coming. Jer’s been subconsciously pining after Mike since high school.”  
Jeremy sputtered. “I have not!”  
“You kind of have,” Christine agreed. “During our dates it was always ‘Michael this’ and ‘Michael that’. I didn’t even know guys liked to talk about other guys that much without being totally in love with them.”  
“And there was that time you slept over at my place,” Brooke added. “I told my mom to burn the couch the next morning.”  
Jeremy went completely red. Michael let out a snort, chuckling and walking to his boyfriend’s side and kissing his cheek. “Aww, you’ve loved me since high school?” Jeremy shoved him away. “Oh, c’mon- there’s nothing shameful about the love one man feels for another, babe!”  
“Shuddup!” Jeremy squawked.  
“Why’s everyone screaming out here?”  
Everyone turned their attention to Jake, rolling up in a wheelchair like a pro.  
“Mell and Heere boned last night.”  
Another shrill cry of horror from Jeremy.  
“Oh, nice.” Jake managed to wheel up to Jeremy and slap him on the back. “Good for you, bro.”  
“Oh my god I hate you all so much,” Jeremy mumbled into his hands as he hid his face.

The next few hours were composed of more waiting in the van, staring at the hospital and awaiting Rich’s grand appearance. Grand it was, as when they saw him, it was...incredibly weird. He looked healthy for the first time since the group first met him. Jake was first to speak to him.  
“...Are you okay, Richie-baby?” He asked.  
Rich gave him a dazzling grin. “I’m great! Why wouldn’t I be?”  
Confused glances were exchanged by the group. Brooke pulled on Jeremy’s sleeve.  
“Look at his eyes,” She whispered as lowly as possible. Jeremy did just as she said, looking at Rich’s eyes while he was still speaking to Jake. They were kind of haunting now, with the SQUIP’s bright blue underlying their natural color. Jeremy almost jumped out of his own skin when Rich’s gaze caught his.  
“Is something wrong, Jeremy?” He asked, voice way too smooth to be natural.  
“I- uh...no?”  
“Don’t we have places to get to?” Christine suddenly spouted out, trying to derail whatever the hell was going on.   
“Right!” Jenna agreed, for once not seeming completely neutral to the situation. “Let’s all get in the van- we’ve got a...uh...schedule to keep to…?”  
“Perfect,” Was all Rich imputed before heading into the van, for once not taking over his comfort-corner.  
“We got to keep an eye on him,” Christine tried not to speak too loudly, but everyone heard and agreed silently. 


	14. Chapter Thirteen - Salem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regerts my friends  
> regerts

 

For the first part of the drive, no one spoke, put off by the apparent tension caused by, what Michael could only assume, was a completely SQUIP controlled Rich. But he couldn’t be certain, and he didn’t know how to tell. He turned to Jeremy, and gave him...the look, sparking a purely psychic, or so they claimed, conversation between the two of them, the advantage of having been inseparable for so many years.  
“What do you think, Jer Bear? The SQUIP’s at the wheel?”  
“Probably. But there’s no way to tell.”  
“There is, we just haven’t thought of it. We just gotta think...”  
Michael turned away, and zoned out after a while, lost in thought on how to be sure of what everyone was thinking.  
“Maybe the book? He already knows we have the book. That’ll make him suspicious. Fuck. Maybe the Internet will have the answer.”  
Michael pulled out his phone, and went on Twitter, quickly becoming lost in the site. After a while he started checking out some celebrity profiles and a certain picture sparked an idea. Patting Jeremy on the leg, and with a vague look roughly translating to ‘Follow my lead’, Michael cleared his throat, and burst out laughing, showing Jeremy his phone who joined in.  
“What are you laughing at Michael?”  
“Yes! I knew he’d bite! Now to reel it in...”  
“Oh nothing, just something crazy this actor did a little while ago. Nothing to worry about, dude.” he said wiping a fake tear from his eye.  
“An actor? Which one?”  
Rich leaned closer, his eyes shining with curiosity.  
“Well if you insist. Keanu Reeves-”  
“KEANU REEVES! OH MY GOD WHAT DID HE DO!?”  
Rich burst forward, and almost snatched Michael’s phone out of his hand, Michael pulling it back just in time.  
“Whoa! Hold on man!”   
Michael waited for ‘Rich’ to calm down before continuing.  
“Keanu Reeves stole a camera from some paparazzi or from a set, the article doesn’t specify, but there’s a whole bunch of pictures of him running down the street, happy as can be. Here, I’ll text you the article.”  
He ripped his phone out of his pants, engrossed in the article, and probably many others, for a long time after, confirming what everyone already knew.  
Rich was trapped in his own body.

“Everyone, welcome to shitty little Salem, New Hampshire. The Original Salem’s shitty little brother,” Jenna introduced, stopping the van.   
“Why are we not at the cool one, then?” Rich inquired.  
“...Reasons, now stop asking questions,” Jenna replied dryly. “We’re staying here for a few days, gonna film at some hill nearby, and then head to the better Salem.”  
Everyone held their breath, seeing if Rich would take the bait.  
“...Okay.”  
A wave of relief washed over them.  
“Alright, now we’ll get set up at one of the hotels Chris found online,” Jenna gestured outside the van to the building before them. “Usual set up, except no one better plan on taking any ‘late-night drives, Jake.”  
“Learned my lesson, don’t need to remind me,” Jake noted, gesturing to his legs.  
Opening up the van, they all grabbed their own stuff, with Jeremy assisting Jake for a second before Rich shoved him away, helping Jake himself. Jeremy blinked, taking a careful look at Rich. The way he was still being caring for Jake either implied that Rich was able to have a little control, the SQUIP was a great actor, or the SQUIP actually likes Jake as well. Only one of those options was desirable.  
They headed into the hotel, for once surprised not to see Winter again at the desk.  
“Are you all PNSN investigations?” The little old woman asked.  
Michael looked to Jeremy, then to the old woman. “Yes?”  
“A man wanted me to give this to you,” She handed Michael a slip of paper, which he began reading the quickly written note.  
Hey, Homos. It’s ya boy, Winter. This place was way too ‘religion-y’ for my liking so I’m backing off of this case. Good news? I payed for your rooms. Jeremy and Michael, enjoy the best room I could get for y’all, if you know what I mean by enjoy. Peace out, W.  
“Well then.” Michael showed Jeremy the note before turning to the desk lady. “Uh, is there already a room under the name ‘Mell, Michael’?”  
“Oh, yes,” The lady handed Michael a key. “Enjoy your honeymoon.” She gently smiled while Jeremy wheezed. She looked to the others of the group. “I suppose they are the ones getting the normal rooms?”  
“Yeah, sure I guess,” Michael was trying not to either laugh or keep his face from burning because how the fuck did he know?   
The little lady began handing keys to Christine, Rich, and Chloe. They said their thank-yous before everyone parted ways.

Jeremy was in the shower, about to wash his hair, when all of sudden he hears,“Mind if I join?” Jeremy jumped and nearly slipped on the wet porcelain shower floor, Michael catching him before he completely fell.  
“Whoa! Keep the ship steady, Captain.”  
Jeremy blushed and punched Michael on the arm, pulling him into the shower and into a kiss.  
“I already washed everything, but if you want...” Jeremy turned around and put a bottle in Michael’s hands, “You can wash my hair for me.”  
“Don’t mind if I do, Jer Bear.”  
Michael squirted the shampoo into his hand, and proceed working it into a lather on Jeremy’s head. The whole process was relaxing… and a little bit of a turn on, especially once Michael started singing some song in Tagalog.  
“Jesus Fuck, if he doesn’t stop we’re gonna end up fucking in the shower.”  
Despite thoroughly enjoying himself, Jeremy decided it’d be best to wait to have some fun after they got out the shower.  
“Ummm… Michael? Can you, uh, not speak Tagalog? It, uh, ya know...”  
He felt Michael’s head peek around his shoulder, a small pause before Michael let out a soft “Oh. My bad.” and stopped.  
After Michael washed his hair, Jeremy did the same for Michael, and after a while they were laying in bed, being dorks.  
“I love you, Jeremy.”  
“I love you more Michael.”  
“You know what that means, right?”  
“What’s that?”  
“One of us is a fuckin’ liar!” Michael yelled, grabbing the nearest pillow and smacking Jeremy with it, who was quick to follow suit. They pillow fought for a long while, until they both got tired, and returned to cuddling.  
“Michael Mell, I really do love you.”  
“Soon to be, hopefully, Jeremy Mell-Heere, I love you too.”  
“Wait… WHAT!”  
Jeremy swung over, unconsciously straddling Michael.  
“You would marry me one day?”  
Michael blushed and looked away, a barely audible “I mean, yeah, I love you so...” passing through his lips. Jeremy took Michael’s chin, and turned it towards him, giving him a kiss that quickly turned more fiery and passionate.  
Jeremy made a mental note to thank Winter for the honeymoon suite. Any other bed would have been hell on his back.

“C’mon, please, Jake. You can tell me where we’re going.”  
“I can’t.”  
Jake laid on the bed, trying not to look into Rich’s eyes while he kept begging to hear what the actual plan was.  
“Jakey-D, it’s me,” Rich cooed so softly, so sweetly. “You can tell me.” He began actually crawling on the bed, over to straddle Jake’s lap.  
“I really can’t,” Jake didn’t know how to feel or what to do at the moment, choosing to continue looking away. Rich grabbed his face, forcing him into initiating eye contact. Seeing that faint blue color to the boy’s eyes made Jake sick and angry, borderline making him want to cry. But now he couldn’t find himself looking away, feeling like a bird under a snake’s gaze.  
“You can tell me, can’t you Jake?” Rich repeated, face too close. Jake could see his faint freckles, almost worn away without the sun. The bags that were once under his eyes from little sleep were gone, another reminder that this wasn’t Jake’s Rich. He couldn’t move to push him away or anything.  
“I…” The words were dry in his mouth. “...I…”  
His next move was pure impulse, despite knowing that this wasn’t really Rich, it still looked, sounded, and just...he knew his Rich was still there as he kissed him. Rich let out a soft noise of surprise before leaning into the kiss. Jake placed his hands onto Rich’s hips, both to pull him closer and keep him in place. He tried to put all his feelings for the true Rich into the kiss, hoping it might reach him.  
The kiss was quick to gain heat, with Jake pulling Rich even closer if it was possible and Rich trying to stay balanced, with a hand on either side of Jake’s head. They seperated, only for Rich to take off his tank top and throw it behind him before continuing their intense make out.  
It was painful that this was but a faker, a dangerous mimic of the boy he loved, but Jake couldn’t help but indulge himself.


	15. Chapter Fourteen - Mystery Hill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did i ever mention God is in this fic?

 

Jake woke up with light streaming through the curtains and a soft warmth on his side. Turning over slowly, as to not wake Rich, he moved to his side, coming face to face with his love.   
“Did I actually just fuck Rich!” The small voice in the back of his head spoke, and even then small was an understatement. The overwhelming pain at feeling betrayed, not only by this...monster stuck inside his beloved Rich’s body, but by his own weak will. He had cheated on Rich, and could only hope Rich was conscious somewhere inside and could either forgive him, or had enjoyed it too.   
“God, or whatever all powerful Lord of Spirits exists, please. Help us get back our Rich...my Rich.”  
He may have been imagining it, but to this day Jake would swear that he felt something in the room nod, filling with a sense of comfort and warmth. That feeling faded fast, when Jake felt a hand on his cheek, and opening his eyes found that it was Fake- Rich, a soft smile on his face.  
“Good Morning, Jakey D. Did you enjoy our little...session last night?” he said, practically purring in Jake’s ear. Jake merely nodded, not trusting his own voice to lie.  
“Well then,” Fake-Rich swung his body to straddle Jake, much like he did the night before. “Why don’t we get a reenactment?”   
Rich started kissing Jake’s neck, his hands slowly moving down.  
“No...No! I can’t let this happen again, I can’t!”  
“Rich...Rich, stop for a second, stop!”  
Jake was ready to push Fake-Rich away,but he sat up immediately, a genuinely concerned look on his face.  
“Jake, what is wrong? Are you okay?”  
Jake finally broke, tears pouring down his face, his heart and mind conflicted between what he should do. Fake-Rich leaned forward to hold him, not exactly helping until Jake imagined it was actually Rich.  
“C’mon Jake. Let’s take a shower. I’ll even change your casts for you.”  
Amidst the fresh wave of tears, Jake swore he would get rid of this creature that would dare pollute the love of his life.

“Jake?”  
Jake had to snap out of his daze of staring at the table when Christine nabbed his attention at breakfast.  
“Are you okay?” She asked gently. “You don’t look too good.”  
“I, uh…” He could barely fucking speak why can’t you fucking speak-  
“Jake!” Christine called his attention again.  
“Christine I fucked up,” He finally said.  
“What?” Christine looked over to the continental breakfast bar where Rich and Jenna still were. “Is this about-” She gestured vaguely.  
“What else would it be about?” Jake mumbled irritably.  
“I-I’m sure it’s not that bad-”  
“We fucked, Christine.”  
“Nevermind then- what the fuck, Jake?!”  
“It was a moment of weakness!” Jake spat back. “He was all over me and I’m a weak idiot, Chris.”  
“Jake, no you’re-”  
“Don’t try to deny it,” He said bitterly. “We just need to hurry up and get that damn SQUIP out of Rich, then I can spend the rest of my life apologizing for the fact that I’m weak.”  
“What about weakness?” Jeremy yawned as he walked up to the table, sitting down carefully next to Christine.  
“Nothing, Jeremy,” Christine reassured, looking at Jake who was just staring blankly at nothing. “Nothing at all.”

The rest of breakfast was awkward to say the least, once everyone was together. To ‘save room around the table’, Rich decided to sit on Jake’s lap. Most everyone was expecting Christine to start up her ‘Mom-friend’ing’ but she just ate her food quietly and in peace. Trying to lighten the mood was Brooke, mostly by pointing out the faint hickies she could see on Jeremy’s neck, near the collar of his shirt. He muttered something faintly in what sounded like Hebrew, pulling up his collar a bit to try and cover up while Michael tried not to laugh.   
Once breakfast was said and done, Christine got to her feet, clapping her hands and clearing her throat.  
“Brooke, Jeremy, Rich, I want you all to have a day out in this town while the rest of us prepare for the filming tonight.”  
“Why the three of us specifically?” Rich questioned, a slight hostility to his words.  
“...I think you three just need some time to bond,” She replied with the same faint sharpness to her words. “I rarely see you three interact.”  
“...I suppose that is true,” Rich tapped a finger on his own chin. “We will be having a fun time in town then.” He got off Jake’s lap- the tall boy let out the faintest breath of relief- only to grab him by the shirt and roughly kiss him.  
“What the fuck?” Chloe said softly. Christine just glared at the interaction until Jeremy pulled Rich and Jake apart.  
“Night-town- fun, yeah let’s go-” Jeremy spoke quickly, looking at Brooke to help him.  
“Right!” She agreed, going to Rich’s other side and guiding him to the door. “Let’s have some fun, Goranski! I’m sure there’s somewhere with good clothes around here.”  
“Yeah!” Jeremy looked back to the rest of the group, giving them a look of you guys better be quick about setting up because I don’t want to die by demon tonight.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”  
It had already been an hour since Jeremy and Brooke left with Demon-Rich and Michael was no closer to finding Chloe’s small prayer book thing. From what she remembered, most of the book’s thickness was due to a whole section of Latin prayers specially designed to expel demons, coincidentally. A book they absolutely needed if they were to even have a chance at exorcising Rich.  
“Guys! Any luck with the van?!”  
Michael just managed to hear a muffled “Nope!” through the window.  
“Shit!” Chloe kicked the wall, leaving a very sizable dent in the bottom of the wall.  
“C’mon Michael. We’ve torn this room to pieces, and it ain’t here, and chances are it’s not in the van. The SQUIP probably found it and burned it.” She sighed. Michael followed suit, melancholy and despair bleeding into his soul.   
“You guys find anything in the room?” Jake said, his face hopeful. All Michael and Chloe could do was shake their heads, Cristine running her hands through her hair in exasperation.  
“I guess we’ll just have to… try some other way...” she sighed, already starting the short walk to the hill.   
“Dammit, man. Where else are we gonna get a chance like this? At this rate, We’ll never get Rich-”  
“Umm… guys? Was this little circle thing here before?”  
“I don’t think so...”  
In the middle of where they set up their filming equipment was a silver circle inlaid with gold, with a massive triangle inside of the circle, each point just touching the edge, In the middle of that, was a note. Christine walked in, careful not to smudge whatever dusty looking stuff the trigram was made, and picked up the paper, giving it a quick glance before holding it out while walking back.  
“It’s for you,” she said, handing the paper to Jake.  
“Greetings, young one, and company. We have heard your prayer, Jake Dillinger, and it has given us the strength to prepare this ritual for you. You, and only you can reach through, past the vile demon that has taken over your love’s body, and bring him into the light once more. This note has been enchanted so once you finish, it shall change into what you would call a prayer book. Yours Truly, God.”  
After reading the note, it shimmered, and changed into an old, thick leather book, the trigram design sewn into the cover.  
“Well then. It looks like we got a shot after all.”


	16. Chapter Fifteen - Mystery Hill, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exorcisms! Such fun!

  
From Gaymer: Shit’s ready. Bring Rich.  
Jeremy looked at the text, then looked to Brooke, who was busy putting various hats on Rich’s head and commenting on how good or bad they looked. Jeremy cleared his throat. “Uh, the others are ready.”  
“Hm? Oh! Okay,” Brooke put the bowler hat back on the shelf. “Come on, Richie. We’ve got a surprise for you.”  
“I enjoy a good surprise,” Rich grinned.  
“You’ll love this one,” Brooke promised with her usual dog-like bounciness.   
Jeremy nervously bit his lip before leading the way out of the store, heading back into town. He stayed quiet, not trusting himself to not spill anything for some reason. He could feel Rich’s gaze burning into the back of his head, choosing to try and ignore it. He tried not to let it get to him, tried not to fidget nervously too much. He grinned when they finally got to the van where Michael was waiting. Jeremy walked right up to his boyfriend, kissing him real quick to make him smile a little before a grim look returned. Michael gripped Jeremy’s hand and continued leading the way, nodding to Brooke who suddenly put her hands over Rich’s eyes.  
“What the-”  
“It’s a surprise,” She reminded.  
“Right- right.” Jeremy couldn’t tell if he was hearing the nervousness in Rich’s voice or imagining it.  
Jake had a strange book in his lap, with Chloe standing just behind him. Jenna was close, by the camera a seemingly safe distance from wherever the exorcism was being performed. Brooke uncovered Rich’s eyes, softly saying “Surprise, you demony bastard.”  
“What the hell-” Rich looked around, with both anger and fright. “Where the hell have you brought me?!”  
“Welcome to Mystery Hill.” Was all Jake said, the others lunging at Rich with various bindings.

After a brief struggle, and some strange incantation from Jake, they managed to render the SQUIP completely immobile, and inside the trigram, his face painted with fear.  
“Hey SQUIP. Before we kill you, any last words?”  
The SQUIP whipped around to face Jeremy, his eyes now clearly glowing, the demon not even attempting to hide it’s existence within Rich.  
“You fool! You would put your faith with the dead?! Vile rodents, that I slayed myself? HA! Don’t make me laugh.”   
Although seemingly bold, it was plain to everyone that the SQUIP was afraid for its life, ethereal blue smoke already seeping out of Rich.  
“Yeah, bitch. We would. Because Jake here sure as hell ain’t no fool.” Chloe spat, her face twisted in contempt.  
“Listen, Jake, Jake please don’t do this. I may not be Rich, but I can be better than-”  
“SHUT UP!” Jake snapped, his entire face red with rage, “You could never be my Rich. And soon… soon i’ll have him back.   
Without anymore chit chat, Jake immediately launched into the ritual, Everyone locking hands around him, and putting forth their prayers to strengthen the spirits, which were now visible, flying through the air on mighty golden wings, swirling around the circle until it became a whirlwind of feathers and gold, screeches of pain coming from within what could only be called the eye of the storm. Suddenly the ground erupted in blue flame, thankfully contained by the trigram.  
“By the power vested in me, I dispel you from this pure vessel, Dannor, Corruptor of Souls and Lord of the Inferno! BEGONE!”  
As soon as it had come, the storm ended, an unconscious Rich lying still within the trigram.

Jeremy passed out.  
No one was sure how or why he did, but probably seeing all the shit he’d been yammering about since the beginning caused him to finally just collapse. Michael caught him before he could hit the ground, holding him close. He pressed his fingers on the pulse point of the pale boy’s neck, relieved that he was still alive. Everyone else looked at Michael, various states of worry etched on their faces. Michael looked to specifically Jake as he got Rich.  
“We should put them in the van- let them sleep this off,” Jake voiced, gaze older than the rest of him suddenly.   
“...Alright,” Michael agreed. He picked up Jeremy with a practiced ease, holding him bridal style before leading the way to the van. He slid open the door, and placed Jeremy down first, the curly-haired boy almost immediately curling up like he usually did when he slept. It made Michael smile a little as he placed a kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead before turning to help Jake get Rich into the van.  
Rich was placed into what was usually his corner, facing the wall almost instinctively. The girls finally came to the van, Jenna taking over the driver’s seat once more. Christine helped Jake into the back of the van while Chloe seemed to be looking Rich over. She glanced over at Jeremy, but just shook her head.   
No one spoke during the short drive. They arrived at the hotel, parting ways seemingly as quick as possible, probably not sure how to talk about everything that happened. Michael carried Jeremy, holding him as close as possible, and the boy felt cold. He would’ve been worried if he wasn’t hearing Jeremy’s steady breathing, so he simply attributed the cold feeling to Jeremy being too damn scrawny to keep any warmth, as usual. Once they got to the room, Michael put Jeremy to bed, kissing his forehead again before getting ready for bed himself.

“Well, well, well… did you really think it would be so easy to get rid of me? Those winged rats, even with their added power, were no match for me. Nothing short of God can even stand a chance against me, that won’t happen. I sealed him away long ago. I never wrote it in my diary, and only three others know. Or more accurately… they each hold a piece to the location of God. But you’ll never figure it out. Never”  
The SQUIP tossed its head back and laughed, the very sound chilling Jeremy to the bone, despite the flames that had burst the floor, curling towards the demon. Jeremy turned to run, but couldn’t move, his body locked in place by some unnatural force.   
“Oh don’t worry Jeremy. You are much more content with your life. I won’t be able to possess you like how I did Rich. But at the same time… I will be making your nights hell, starting tonight. Enjoy.”   
Jeremy’s vision clouded over into darkness, the last thing he heard being the SQUIP’s vicious laughter.


	17. Chapter Sixteen - PNSN Hiatus End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PARTAY

 

Jeremy woke with a start, his subconscious making him latch onto Michael in a border line Scooby-Doo fashion. Unsurprisingly, Michael still didn’t wake up, giving Jeremy a moment to think and compose himself.  
“Okay. So I could tell everyone that the SQUIP is inside me, but I won’t be able to be possessed, only plagued with ungodly nightmares, in which only God can kill this thing… or I can just, not mention it. Yeah that sounds nice. I can take one for the team for a while… I think.”  
After a while Jeremy managed to doze back into a light sleep, uncorrupted by the SQUIP’s advances.  
“Hey Jer Bear? C’mon, press start Player One.” Michael whispered, gently shaking Jeremy awake.   
“Hm? Yeah, I’m up, i’m up.” he said, wiping some of the sleep out of his eyes.   
Michael smiled, and gave Jeremy a short kiss to the lips.  
“You feelin’ alright? Seeing as you passed out and everything yesterday.”  
“Well-” Jeremy stopped himself, his brain almost too tired to formulate a lie.  
“Yeah. Yeah I'm good. It’s not very day you see that kind of stuff, ya know?”  
Michael nodded, his body visibly relaxing again.  
“Oh, okay. You really worried me out there when you passed out.”  
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it,” he apologized.   
“It’s alright Jer Bear. C’mon. Let’s go take a shower.”  
Michael managed to drag Jeremy out of the bed, and into the shower with him, Jeremy insisting on washing Michael’s hair first. But then Michael started washing Jeremy’s hair… and he was singing again.  
“Oh fuck not again… but now that I think about it…”  
Jeremy turned around and practically pulled Michael unto him.  
He was glad that he had started reading stuff on AO3 in order to get off, otherwise what went down would have been a lot rougher.

Rich finally woke up. Everything felt heavy and hurt a little, but in a ‘didn’t stretch before exercising’ way instead of a ‘demon is possessing my body and silencing my free will’ kind of way. He sat up in the soft bed, an arm around his waist. He looked beside him, seeing Jake fast asleep, still in what looked like day clothes. Rich blinked and poked the tall athlete.  
“Muh-huh?” Jake lifted his head. “Oh hey you’re awake…” He mumbled sleepily before putting his head back on the pillow. Suddenly he snapped his head back up. “You’re awake!”  
“Yeah…? Uh, what happened?”  
“Rich, we- the whole group- we got rid of it!” Jake sat up, and gripped Rich’s shoulders with a wide grin. “We did it!”  
“Did what?”  
“The SQUIP! It’s gone!”  
“Seriously-?!” Rich covered his mouth when he heard his own lisp for the first time in years.   
“Oh my god,” Jake let out a snicker. “You- oh my god that’s…”  
“Shut up!” Rich squeaked, face red.  
“Rich, I-” Jake wheezed out another laugh. “Rich you’re adorable.”  
Rich covered his face, screaming into his hands. Jake grabbed his hands, holding them in his own and using them to pull Rich close.  
“Hey.”  
“...Hey?”  
“Guess what?”  
Rich blinked. “...What?”  
Jake kissed the tip of his nose. “You’re free now.”  
Rich didn’t know his face could get redder. Instead of responding, he just buried his face into Jake’s chest, hearing his laugher and feeling himself grin as well.

“Excuse me everyone. I would like to make an announcement.”  
Rich managed to get everyone’s attention, luckily no strangers, considering the bar they decided on was empty, oddly enough. Except for the bartender of course, who had left shortly after they arrived, and leaving some other one in the backroom.  
“Now everyone. I would like to say thank you. Without you guys I wouldn’t be able to think my own thoughts, and love my boyfriend Jake how he should be loved, like how I love him, not some possessive demon.”  
“Hear, hear!”  
“And so I would like to say cheers! To our demon hunting gang of homosexuals!”  
“Cheers!”  
“I dunno bro, that’s pretty gay.”  
“WINTER!”  
And there he was, with what was probably vodka, his trademark smirk, and a shirt that said, ‘Ain’t No Lie I’m Bi Bi Bi!’.   
“Why did I get the feeling you were gonna be here?”  
“Probably just gaining sentience and breaking out of the mold me and Essiah put you in. No big deal.” Winter shrugged. “Anyway, weren’t we about to party?”  
And party they did, dancing on the tables, and having Winter tell stories of his time as some place called Camp Half-Blood, wherever that was. Jeremy himself was having a lot of fun, and he was dancing when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Winter, who looked serious for some odd reason. Letting himself be pulled, Winter brought him into a bathroom before leaning against the wall, posed like he was at a photoshoot for an album cover.  
“Listen, Jeremy. I don’t know how else to tell you this, but...” he sighed and looked up. “You’re gonna have to tell them about the SQUIP.”

Jeremy’s expression fell and he looked at the ground. “I know I’ve got to...But I can’t just...ruin the mood.”  
“I mean you can, you just don’t want to,” Winter replied.   
“I…”  
“I’m right,” He snorted. “But anyway, stop being a bitch and tell them. Probably tomorrow. Or I’ll tell them.” His tone was kept disturbingly light.  
“...Was that a threat? I genuinely can’t tell.”  
“And you’ll never be able to. Now, get the fuck out.”  
“This is a public bathroom?”  
Winter glared at Jeremy.  
“Yep, got it, leaving.”  
With that, he turned his heel and left quickly. Jeremy rejoined the group, and then no one saw Winter again that night. Thoughts still lingered in Jeremy’s head, but he let them be brushed off by all his friends’ continuing excitement. The night would end with them heading to the hotel, bellies warm with alcohol and grins gracing their expressions.


	18. Chapter Seventeen - Salem (The Cool One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhangerrrr

 

“Uhhhh...”  
Jeremy awoke to Michael graning in pain, no doubt the same one that was hammering Jeremy’s head into a pulp. Oddly enough though, he didn’t regret all the drinks he had, mostly because it seems the SQUIP couldn’t do anything with a drink addled mind.  
“That’s one thing to note for future reference. More importantly...”  
“You okay Michael? You don’t sound too good.”  
“Do I look like I’m good?”  
Jeremy shrugged. “Can’t tell. The lights are too bright.”  
“Same.” Michael laughed.   
They lay in silence for a while, Jeremy managing to doze back off.   
“Jer Bear?”  
“Hm?”  
“We should probably go take a shower.”  
“Yeah. But I don’t feel like getting up.”  
“Me neither.”  
“WAKE UP GUYS!”  
Both boys practically leaped out of their skins at the rude entry, falling to the floor hold their heads.  
“What the fuck Jenna?!”  
“Quiet down!”  
“Oh hush you guys. Get ready, cuz we’re going to the cooler Salem!”

The trip wasn’t too excruciating, with most everyone trying to recover from hangovers. Still, in their corner of the van, Rich and Jake were busy being excruciatingly lovey-dovey with each other. Jake whispered something in Rich’s ear, which made the other boy go red and shove him away playfully with a “stop that, you nerd!”  
Chloe irritably mumbled and held Brooke closer, with the smaller of the two holding a small coffee in her hands.  
“Where the hell’d you get that?” Michael asked.  
“Nunya,” Brooke sipped the drink.   
“Forget I asked,” The Filipino boy sighed.  
The van stopped.  
“End of the road, guys. We’re in the cool Salem now,” Jenna announced from the driver’s seat. “And we’re gonna eat some motherfuckin’ IHop.”  
“Woo!” Christine cheered.  
“Chris, chill, please,” Jeremy whined as a sharp pain flashed through his head.  
“Whoops, sorry,” She apologized and hid her face a little, embarrassed.  
“Anyway, pancakes.” Jenna rephrased before hopping out of the van.

After the miracle that is pancakes, the crew finally felt good enough to actually try and film. Jeremy reviewed the history of the Salem Witch Trials on his phone, with minimal input from the SQUIP, mostly along the lines of Oh, please, why would Lucifer waste his time in a shithole like this place?  
“Shuddup,” Jeremy mumbled.  
“I didn’t say anything?”  
Jeremy turned his head to see Rich standing there with a confused look on his face. “Sorry Rich- wasn’t talking to you.”  
“Who were you talking to then?”  
Jeremy’s body seized up. But anyway, stop being a bitch and tell them. Probably tomorrow. Winter’s words repeated in his head. Or I’ll tell them.  
But could he really tell them that the problem they thought was handled was still lingering around, now disturbing Jeremy’s thoughts and sleep? There’s no way he could tell Rich or Jake- they were so happy now.   
“I, uh...um…” Jeremy tried finding words. “I was talking to myself. My, uh...my head gets a little noisy sometimes, with anxiety and self-doubts and stuff.”  
“I know that feeling, man,” Rich nodded. “Big reason why the...you know what...decided to use me. All I had was nothing, and he promised me something. Made me an easy target.”  
Damn, is Rich really opening up about this?  
“He doesn’t really need to, you know.” The SQUIP said. “I could easily tell you how easy of a target Rich was. A class A case of someone who ‘wanted better’ because they had nothing.”  
...Could you fuck off again? Because you’re kind of being a dick. Jeremy thought.  
“I’m a demon, Jeremy. Do you expect me to be nice?”  
...Fuck. Off.   
“Jeremy?”  
“Shit, sorry- What’s going on?” Jeremy snapped his attention to Jenna was she walked over.  
“...We’re about to start filming. C’mon, dude.”  
“Right,” Jeremy nodded before glancing at Rich, who seemed to be looking at him with curious eyes. They both looked away. “Right.”

Somehow Jeremy maged to make it through filming with little to no interruptions due to the SQUIP, much to his disappointment.  
“I almost had you at the end Jeremy. You’ll have to focus more if you want to be successful in this business.”  
“Just shut up already.”  
Already the SQUIP was taking a toll on his energy, the demon either leeching it away or it just took a lot to deal with him. Jeremy still couldn’t tell which it was, and quite frankly he was content to just mindlessly eat his fries.   
“Yo Jeremy, you alright?”  
“Huh, wha?”  
Jeremy was snapped out of his thoughts, looking up to find everyone was looking at him with varying degrees of concern, Michael and Rich being the most.   
“What’s going on? Did I miss something?”  
“No, but you… you look way more tired than you usually are. You sure you feel alright?”  
“Oh noooo, what are you gonna do now Jeremy?” The SQUIP said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
“Shut it.” Jeremy said, before focusing on the real world.  
“Guys I’m fine. It’s just that… I don’t take my alcohol too well. I still have a bit of hangover going on.”  
Jeremy breathed an inward sigh of relief as everyone merely smiled, and Michael began to coddle him, as he usually did when Jeremy said he wasn’t feeling well. Except upon closer inspection, Rich was frowning, obviously not having bought Jeremy’s story.   
“I’ll have to talk to him later...”  
Once they finished editing and eating, they made their way to a nearby hotel, which was not surprisingly witch themed. Once they walked in however, Jeremy froze, his face paling as he saw the one thing he had been dreading all day.  
“Sup homos. I thought I’d find y’all here. We need to talk.”


	19. Chapter Eighteen - The Hawthorne Hotel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy gets put in the hot seat

Jeremy gripped his own shirt out of slight fear as Winter removed his sunglasses-  _ why the fuck was he wearing sunglasses at night _ \- and looked directly at Jeremy.

“Let’s make our way to somewhere more private- C’mon, I already paid for a big room for myself,” He turned his heel and headed to the stairs. “Jeremy, Michael, Jenna, and Christine. You four’ll be coming along with me, up the stairs. Don’t ask questions.”

“Why-”

“No. Questions.”

Christine held her tongue and went to follow the blonde. He whistled for half the time that it took to get to his room, passing by the elevator just as it opened to reveal Rich, Jake, Brooke, and Chloe. He made a ‘come along’ gesture before taking out a key, opening the door to what everyone guessed was supposed to be his room. As soon as he stepped foot into the room, he already had his boots off, throwing them across the room to land in a chair beside a messenger bag. The place was a mess, Jeremy noticed, but had a weird, chaotic-organization to it.

“Alright, so anyway, the scrawny fuck here- or rather, Heere,” Winter pointed to Jeremy. “Has been lying to you all today about being okay because he’s a weak bitch.”

“Hey!” Jeremy and Michael both outcried.

“It’s true,” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Because the SQUIP’s still here.”

Rich and Jake both froze. Jake let out a soft noise of anger, sounding like a snarling dog while Rich began shaking, eyes wide.

“Something that’s managed to live this long isn’t gonna just roll over and die,” Winter snorted. “Look at half the terrifying shit that still lives in the water- lamprey are fucking scary and haven’t needed to evolve in like…” He fidgeted his fingers, looking like he was trying to count on a hand. “A long ass time.”

“Wait, so why would Jeremy know about this?” Brooke asked.

“Because the SQUIP’s latched onto him like a lamprey- wow this lamprey thing is seriously bugging me now,” Winter took out his phone, probably to look up whatever the hell was on his mind. “Also, yeah, so anyway, SQUIP, on Jeremy, and y’all ain’t gonna be rid of it yet. Now get out because I gotta call someone.”

“Wait what-”

“Out!” He spat.

 

“Shhh… It’ll be okay Rich. Jeremy’s strong, he won’t end up like how you did. He has us, remember?”

Rich sniffled and nodded, his eyes completely dry after 3o minutes of crying. 

“I’m sorry Jake, it’s just… I’m so scared that he’ll go through what I did, ya know?”

“I understand Richie Baby. Believe me, I do. Now c’mon, we could both use some cuddles right about now.” 

Jake managed to pull back on the bed, with Rich’s help of course, and laid back on the pillows, Rich in his arms.

“Jake?”

“Yeah Rich?”

“I love you. For… everything you do for me.”

“I love you too, Richie Baby.”

“I love you more.”

Rich turned to face Jake, a mischievous look on his face.

“What’s the matter, Jakey D? Somethin’ wrong?”

Jake rolled his eyes and gently mushed Rich’s face saying, “No, except for you being a dork!”

“I am not a dork!” Rich laughed, swinging over to tickle Jake’s sides.

“Bro! Stop iiiiiiit!”

Not one to give up without a fight, Jake retaliated, tickling all the spots he knew Rich was sensitive.

“No fair!”

They played with each other for a while longer before getting tired, and curling up against each other to sleep.

 

“Michael… are you alright?”

Michael didn’t say anything, instead just pacing the room as he had been doing ever since they got it.

_ “Look what you did Jeremy. You betrayed your boyfriend’s trust. Now he’ll leave you for some other pale piece of ass that he comes across. How does that make you feel?” _

_ “It makes me feel like punching you in the mouth.” _

Tuning the SQUIP out, something he had learned to do rather quickly, he focused back onto Michael.

“Michael, please talk to me. You’re making me nervous.”

Michael stopped and took a deep breath before turning towards Jeremy.

“Sorry about that Jer. I just… I just needed a moment to think before I speak. I don’t want this to end up how it did when we had that fight last time.”

“Well.. let me talk first. You know, to uh, get you started.”

Jeremy took a deep breath and began.

“I didn’t tell you guys-”

“No I don’t mind you didn’t tell the others, but… you could at least have told me.” 

_ “What do say about that Jeremy? Hm? You gotta be quick. Gotta save face. Cuz right now you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.” _

“Michael… I’m sorry. I thought I could handle it on my own, and we were all celebrating. Rich looked so free, ya know? And I didn’t want to be a burden. Not until we were… I dunno, more stable? To be honest, I didn’t completely decide on when I was gonna tell anyone.”

Michael sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

“I wish you had told me at least. I don’t like the thought of you carrying this burden alone. So let’s just forget it, and move forward on how to fix this. Okay?”  
“Okay. Can we, uh… cuddle… still?”

“Of course Jer Bear. Michael smiled and climbed on the bed, Jeremy snuggling up against Michael.

_ “Well, well. Looks like you dodged a bullet. Unfortunately for you, it was one of mine. Ooh don’t worry. I’ll collect the bill. Sweet dreams...” _

 

“How the hell could he not tell us?”

“Chloe calm down-”

“He should’ve told us Brooke! I’m not gonna be calm about this!”

Brooke slowly took the TV remote from Chloe’s vice grip, worried she’d manage to shatter the thing.

“Jeremy had to have done it for a reason- look how Rich and Jake ended up reacting.” Brooke pointed out.

“Then he could’ve told the rest of us!”

“And leave them out?”

“The rest of us could’ve dealt with it,” Chloe rationalized, waving her hand.

Brooke looked at her girlfriend, pouting.

“Okay, fine, sure, Jake and Rich have dealt with this far longer than we have but we still could’ve done something without them.”

“Chloe,” Brooke sighed. “You’re mad because we didn’t finish the job, aren’t you?”

“No! Yes! Ugh!” Chloe fell backwards onto the bed, frustrated as dragged a hand down her face. “I’m mad that this fucker is still around.” She finally admitted out loud.

“There we go,” Brooke nodded.

“Just...how does something like that live through...what went down on that mountain?”

“Maybe it’s like Winter said,” Brooke suggested. “Something that’s lived this long won’t go down easy.”

“Brooke, I’m not really gonna trust the word of that guy right now.” Chloe looked at her girlfriend with a dull expression.

“Why not? He seems like a reliable person.”

“He knows  _ way  _ too much to be normal.”

“What is normal now?” Brooke asked softly. “Demons are real, angels are too…” She rubbed her temples. “It’s kind of fucked up to see my entire worldview just,” She flailed her hands a little. “Y’know? I grew up very middle class and very Jewish, and now we’ve got money and  _ actually fucking demons. _ ”

“It’s all too much to think about right now,” Chloe held out her arms. “Do you want to snuggle, mi perrito?”

Brooke giggled at the nickname before flopping into Chloe’s arms.

“We’ll deal with it all tomorrow,” Chloe whispered. “...Tomorrow.” She repeated, almost too quietly to be heard. 


	20. Chapter Nineteen - Philadelphia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Directins and sheet!  
> (i cant speel vry gud)

  
  


Breakfast that morning was somewhat awkward, seeing as Rich, Jake, and Michael were making it their mission to see that Jeremy was well fed and energized, mostly because from Rich’s experience, “Being possessed by the SQUIP takes a lot of your energy. Unless you’re at an all you can eat buffet motel, you’re either always sleepy or always hungry, and it’s best not to be hungry.” So now those three were trying to stuff Jeremy full of food.

“Guys, I don’t  **need** or  **want** any more food! You guys already managed to stuff me with 3 omelettes, 2 muffins, and 5 fucking steaks! I’m not hungry anymore!”

“But that’s the problem Jer Bear! You don’t usually eat this much, and you hardly ate at all yesterday!”

“Michael has a point Jeremy. You gotta make up for lost time.”

Chris cleared her throat, making all three of the boys look over.

“Alright boys, It’s time to pack up. We have a good long drive ahead of us to Philly.”

“Why are we going to Philadelphia?”

“Because of the cheesecake. Obviously.” Rich said, rolling his eyes.

“First off, it’s cheesesteak Philly’s famous for. Second off, it's because of the Eastern State Penitentiary. Its trending due to some National Geographic documentary, so if we go and shoot the video now, we’ll be sure to get some extra views. 

“Makes sense.”

“Makes dollars!” piped Rich, causing everyone to look towards him in confusion.

“What? You guys never hear that before?”

“Nope.”

“Nada.”

“I vaguely remember some teacher of mine saying that. Mr. Kelly, i think?”

“Guys we’re getting off track! Jake, hand me the keys. It's time to move out!”

 

Throughout the entire nearly six hour drive, Jeremy managed to buy foods to snack on at every pitstop they made.

“Dude you’re like  _ the Flash  _ or something,” Michael pointed out.

“What?”

“You eat a lot but you’re burning a lot of energy too so it like...evens out or something.”

“...What?” Jeremy repeated.

“Bitch, I know you’ve watched _ Flash _ with me and know what I’m talking about.”

Jeremy just pursed his lips and nodded, still not knowing what the hell Michael was talking about. He opened a bag of Ruffles, nibbling on the chips. Michael snatched a chip from the bag.

“Hey!”

“Boyfriend privileges,” He said before eating it. Jeremy stuck his tongue out.

“You dweebs are sickeningly cute,” Rich piped up, snuggled up to Jake’s side.

“Says the  _ cuddlebug  _ over there.”

Rich went red and hid his face, making Jake chuckle.

“All of you are gross,” Chloe growled with a lack of playfulness. “Especially Heere and Mell.”

“Hey, man, uncalled for,” Michael whined. Chloe just glared at him. He looked away, going back to busying himself with stealing Jeremy’s chips, much to Jeremy’s annoyance. 

 

“I swear Jeremy, I’m glad you’re here, cuz otherwise I would be starving by now”

Jeremy opened his mouth to protest, but was discouraged by a look from Chloe. 

_ “You know Jeremy, they aren’t wrong. When I was in Rich, he practically starved himself. You are doing much better for yourself!” _

_ “If you meant that as a compliment, I don’t want it.” _

_ “Suit yourself...” _

Before they were to find a hotel, they were all hungry, especially Jeremy, despite him having just finished off his second full sized bag of Doritos. That being said, Jenna and Christine decided that they would eat at Outback, mostly because they have big, heavy steaks for Jeremy, and had managed to find a table. And avoiding talk of the SQUIP for the most part, except for Jeremy’s keepers of course.

“Hey Jer Bear, you still hungry? I can feed you some of my mashed potatoes if you want.”

“Yo Jeremy, want me to order you another steak?”

“Here, try some more of this shrimp.”

By the end of the night, they had thoroughly convinced their waiter that Jeremy either smoked a lot of weed, or was a bottomless pit of despair, Jenna somehow managing to film both the absurd amount of food Jeremy had eaten, and the waiter’s terrified reaction to it.

“Guys, I think I scarred that guy for life.”

“Aw c’mon he wasn’t that scared.”

“Michael, by the time we left he was whiter than Winter, and that guy is pale as fuck.”

They continued to banter in a similar manner until they reached the hotel, very surprised at the fact that Winter wasn’t there to greet them.

“Hello everyone. We’re dealing with an issue right now, so can you please wait in the parlor and we’ll be right with you.”

Leaving no room for debate, the receptionist went back to the phone, ignoring the groups existence.

“Well the parlor it is.”

Upon reaching the door, they found that it was kicked down, completely broken off its hinges and laying on the floor.

“What the-”

“C’mon in you guys! Don’t mind the door, I got here at like, 3 this morning, and the door was locked.”

“Essiah!?”

“The one and only. Now sit down, Winter wanted me to talk to y’all.”

 

“Nuh-uh, no. We’re not listening to whatever that Winter guy says,” Chloe growled. “Even if it’s second-hand from one of his minions.”

“Last time I checked, I’m not a minion.” Essiah piped up. “I’m more like Winter’s right-hand man.” There was a small chirp and he took out his phone. “Son of a-”

“Anyway, what do you want to say?” Christine interrupted.

“Oh right, what was I gonna say…?” He paused and seemed to be thinking. “Oh right! You all are screwed without mine and Winter’s help.”

“What? How in the hell could you possibly know that?” Brooke had to hold Chloe back.

“Because you guys are two of the people who know about-” Jeremy suddenly choked on his words.

_ Careful now, Jeremy.  _ He heard the SQUIP chuckle in his mind.

“Whatever you were gonna say, I’m just gonna answer yes,” Essiah replied. “Anyway, after you guys film your next episode, Winter told me to tell you guys to head to...uuuuh,” He paused again. “The place...uh...a mountain?” He snapped his fingers a few times. “Mountain...mount….Mount Mitchell!”

“Isn’t that in North Carolina?” Michael asked.

“Yep.”

“Isn’t that gonna be a really long drive?” Jake inquired.

“Yes.”

“Was Winter staring at Brooke when he was talking to us?” Chloe joined in the Q&A.

“Yes, but also he was staring at Jake-”

“What?!” Rich screeched, latching onto Jake’s side despite the wheelchair.

“-and at you, Chloe. Surprisingly not in a completely sexual way, or so he says, but like a painting or something.”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe grumbled in more of a ‘I’m gonna choke that guy next time we see him’ kind of way. 

“Anyway! Your rooms should be ready to go now, so g’bye!” Essiah tried to smoothly disappear into the shadows, tripping over something but managing to recover some of his dignity and balance to make his exit.


	21. Chapter Twenty - Eastern State Penitentiary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy is in the front seat of the struggle bus

  
  


“Mount Mitchell...Why d’ya think they want us to head there?” Michael asked, drying his hair with one of the room towels before tossing it backwards into the bathroom.

“According to Google, it’s the highest peak of the Appalachian range,” Jeremy looked up from his laptop.

“And?”

Jeremy made an ‘I don’t know’ noise, shrugging. 

_ “They want you to go there and die,” _

_ Shut the hell up, you fuck.  _ Jeremy rubbed his temples and sighed.

“Was that the SQUIP again?” Michael sat down next to his boyfriend, worry in his brown eyes. 

“Yeah, but it’s fine. I’ve gotten used to telling him- it? To fuck off.”

“What about when you’re sleeping?”

Jeremy went silent, looking away.

“So you  _ have  _ been having nightmares,” Michael sighed.

“They’re not  _ that  _ bad.”

“Jer, you keep mumbling about danger in the middle of the night- you look worse than you did in high school,” Michael held Jeremy’s face in his hands.

“Gee, thanks.” The lanky boy mumbled.

“You know what I mean- you’re losing sleep.”

“I’m fine-”

“No you’re not!” The Filipino boy snapped, making Jeremy flinch. “Jeremy, you might think you’re handling the SQUIP better than Rich, but you’re starting to look just as bad.” Michael pressed his forehead to Jeremy’s. “I’m really worried about you, man.”

“I…” Jeremy felt tears beginning to form. “God, I don’t deserve you.”

“Shut up and accept the fact that I’m here for you, nerd,” Michael laughed, tears already running down his face as he hugged his scrawny boyfriend.

 

“Cut!”

Jeremy sighed and sat on the ground, annoyed at how slow progress was going.

_ “Oh my. It’s already been ten takes! What kind of showman messes up that much, hm?” _

Unable to tune him all day, Jeremy instead chose to ignore the SQUIP, accepting a bottle of water Michael gave to him.

“Jer Bear, you know we don’t have to do this right now, right? We can take a break, and you can have a nap during it.”

Although tempting, Jeremy shook his head, determined to not let the SQUIP get the best of him.

“I appreciate Mikey, but I got it. I have to do this.”

“If you say so, Jer Bear. I’m still giving you a minute to recover.”

Jeremy nodded, laying back on the ground, somehow managing to doze off, 

“Here, Heere.”

Jeremy opened his eyes to find Rich with a sympathetic smile and a bottle of pills.

“It’s energizing vitamins. Really helped me out when I was super tired, and it's better than coffee cuz you don’t have to deal with the crash.”

“Thanks man,” Jeremy said, gratefully taking the bottle and popping four into his mouth.

“No problem. You think you can continue filming?”

“Uhhhh… yeah. Yeah, I should be good.”

Rich nodded and turned to walk away.

“Rich wait!”

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me up?”

Rich sighed, smiling and shaking his head.

“Fine.”

 

“Aaaaaaaand cut! That’s the end of it!”

“Oh fuck yes.”

After lots more of trial and error and vitamins, Jeremy finally managed to bring the zeal and enthusiasm he has of sites of paranormal activity. Much to Michael’s concern however, he could see see Jeremy’s bags right before his eyes. Something that was deeply unsettling.

_ “We gotta pack up, and fast. My Jer Bear already looks like he has one foot in the grave already.” _

“Ay Rich, can you grab the lights for me?”

“No problem!”

“C’mon Jeremy. Let’s get you some rest.”

“But Michaeeel. I’m not sleepyy. Let me help!”

Michael shook his head, maintaining a firm grip on his boyfriends hand.

“Now way, Jer Bear. I don’t want you passing out on the ground and hitting your head.”

“Ugh. Fine. I still don’t see why you think that would happen.”

Michael just smiled and led him to the van, where Jeremy almost tripped and fell from not lifting up his leg high enough.

“Here. Let me help.”

Michael scooped Jeremy up, carrying him bridal-style into the van, sitting down with Jeremy still in his arms.

“You comfy?”

“Mmmmhmmm.”

Michael kissed Jeremy on the forehead, and ran his fingers through his hair, somehow managing to fall asleep himself.

 

When they got back to the hotel, Rich nudged Michael awake before going to help his own boyfriend out of the van. Michael let out a yawn, looking down at the still sleeping boy in his arms, cuddled up close to him.

“Jer-bear,” He whispered in a sing-song voice. “Time to wake up.”

Jeremy didn’t open his eyes.

“Jeremy?” The worry was already seeping into his words. He shook him a little, but Jeremy was still fast asleep. Michael placed a hand on Jeremy’s neck to check his pulse, only to flinch away at the heat. “ _ Carajo… _ ” He muttered. “Uh, Rich?”

“What’s up?” Rich hopped back into the van.

“Jeremy’s not waking up,” Michael almost sounded like he was gonna cry. “He- his temperature- it’s not normal.”

Rich looked fearful, “I-it can’t be that bad…” Rich quietly denied, reaching to touch Jeremy’s forehead. He removed his hand slowly, looking at it like he couldn’t believe it. “He...how the hell could it be working this quick…”

“Rich, what the hell is going on?” Michael stared at the short boy. Rich continued to mumble fearfully. “Rich, tell me what’s going on!” Michael demanded.

“He- Michael, Jeremy’s...he’s gonna have to...he’s in a coma until he...until he can strike a ‘deal’ with the SQUIP. Michael, it’s gonna make an offer he can’t refuse.” Rich was shaking. “It’s gonna sound good because that damn thing is good at talking- Jeremy’s gonna be the next...the next me, basically.”

“No, no,” Michael shook his head. “Jer...he’s strong- he’s got everything he could want, right? He couldn’t possibly…” He glanced at Jeremy’s sleeping face. “He won’t...wouldn’t…”

“The SQUIP had to have chosen to stick near him for some reason.”


	22. Chapter Twenty-One - Richmond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad time Michael

  
  


They headed out as soon as they finished a late lunch. Jenna set a route straight for Mount Mitchell, which was a ten hour trip in total. They already had a plan to stay in Richmond, as they would arrive there at nearly 9 at night. Yet again, the trip was in nearly complete silence, with Michael holding Jeremy close while the pale boy was sleeping, breathing even and calm like this wasn’t some kind of coma.

Michael seemed more protective and stand-offish for the trip. Rich offered some water to him some time during the trip, and Michael just told him to put it nearby instead of coming anywhere near him or Jeremy. Chloe watched, a bit curious, as Michael cared for his boyfriend over the near five hours they were in the van. Some time halfway through the trip, he made a makeshift pillow out of his jacket to lay Jeremy down, gently brushing Jeremy’s curly brown locks which had become a bit damp with sweat. 

When the van finally stopped at a hotel, Michael waited for everyone else to leave first, glaring if they accidently got too close. Christine headed into the hotel to get their rooms. Michael carefully left the van, carrying Jeremy once more.

“Hey Michael, do you need any he-”

“No.” Michael interrupted Rich’s offer. The short boy shut his mouth, feeling a bit dejected. Jake placed a hand on his boy’s back.

“He doesn’t mean anything by it,” He gently assured. “He’s just grieving.”

“I know, but I just…” Rich let out a sigh. “I feel like there’s something I could’ve done- warned them or something.”

“Babe, you didn’t know any of this would happen so quickly; we all thought Jeremy would be able to hold out.”

Rich didn’t reply, following the group.

 

“I’m going to bed. Don’t disturb Jeremy and me.” were the only words Michael spoke as soon as he got his room key, even foregoing dinner with everyone.

“Is...is Michael gonna be okay?”

“Of course Rich. He’s just… in a bad place right now, ya know?”

Rich nodded, and went back to pushing his food around on the plate.

“I just feel like I could have said something, you know?”

“Rich there is nothing you could have done. We all thought Jeremy would be able to hold out. Hell, he was able to do it while hungover.” 

“Chris is right, Rich. Besides, I’m sure Jeremy would have the sense to not agree to anything that monster would suggest. Right guys?”

Everyone agreed, comforting Rich a bit.

“Yeah, I’m sure he wouldn’t. But, uh… if you’ll excuse me… I’ll be off to bed. Night guys.”

“Night Rich!”

Although he wasn’t sleepy, Rich climbed into bed, and just lay there. And when Jake came in, he pretended to sleep, quiet tears running down his face.

 

Chloe walked down the hall, half-listening to Brooke talking about something beside her. She contributed to the conversation with small ‘yeps’ and ‘I don’t know, tell me’ before pausing in front of Michael and Jeremy’s room.

“Do you think he’s actually okay?” Brooke asked, gently grabbing Chloe’s arm.

“Who? Heere or Mell?”

“Mostly Michael. He seems really bad.”

Chloe stared at the door before answering. “Brooke, his best friend and boyfriend is passed-out and he could possibly lose him to a demon.”

“Way to sugarcoat it,” Brooke mumbled.

“I’m being honest,” She sighed. “Look, if you’re really worried, I’ll talk to Mell, and you can head to bed.”

“He said not to disturb him, though.”

“He’s grieving, and he’s being a whiny bitch. Besides, if he tries to fight me, I can take him. Remember Madeline during senior year?”

“Chloe you nearly sent her to the hospital.”

“She started it.” Chloe huffed quietly. “Anyway, you can head to bed. I’ll join you as soon as I get Mell on the same level as the rest of us.” Chloe moved some of Brooke’s bangs before kissing her girlfriend’s forehead.

“Good night, Chlo.” Brooke whispered. “Try not to cause a fight.”

“I’ll try my damnedest, mi perrito.”

They parted ways. Chloe reached for the door handle, surprised to see it wasn’t locked when she turned the handle. She tapped a knuckle on the door three times. “Mell? I’m coming in, so be decent.” She took a deep breath before opening the door.

The room was dark, aside from the light pouring into the window from outside. She could see Jeremy already tucked into the bed, but didn’t see Michael.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Michael’s voice was like a soft, weak growl. Chloe looked to see him sitting in front of the bed, on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest.

“I’m here to talk.”

 

Chloe slowly entered the room, closing the door gently behind her, before facing a very hostile Michael. 

“Listen, Michael. I know you’re hurting, but-”

“Just get to the point and leave.” Michael deadpanned, staring straight ahead.

Chloe sighed, and moved to sit down next to Michael, who noticeably scootched away.

“Michael… going into a shell isn’t gonna help with any of this. We need you, ya know. And so does Jeremy.”

Michael tensed at the mention of Jeremy, but surprisingly didn’t act on it.

_ “That’s good… maybe I can get to him this way...” _

“What do you think Jeremy would say if he saw you like this? I think-”

“What you  **think** doesn’t matter.  **I think** that if you mention his name again, you won’t like it.”

Chloe winced, realizing that she had messed up massively.

“I’m sorry Michael. but seriously, you don’t think this is hurting all of us? Rich is probably in his room with Jake crying his eyes out and blaming himself, Christine and Jenna blaming  **themselves** , and the whole situation is a mess. We need you to pull the team back together, and help us save your boyfriend. Will you?”

He stayed unresponsive, moving only to look back and check on Jeremy. After a long while sitting in silence, Chloe sighed, stood up, and went to the door. 

_ “Whelp. Can’t say I tried. I wish I could do more but-” _

“Chloe.”

She turned around, Michael on his feet and dusting off his clothes.

“I’ll try. Tomorrow morning. Okay?”

Chloe nodded, jogging up to Michael to give him a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks Michael. Remember we’re here for you too, okay?”

He merely nodded, and as Chloe left and slowly shut the door, Michael waved, giving her a small smile.

_ “Well it’s not perfect, but he said he’ll try. And sometimes that’s all we can hope for...” _


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two - Asheville

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pit stop before the hike

  
  


_ The room was dark, except for a single lamp on the ceiling, illuminating a dark wooden table, where Jeremy and a man with bright blue hair sat. _

_ Jeremy looked tired, and worn out, the bags beneath his eyes a sickly dark purple. _

_ “Listen Jeremy, if you accept the terms, you can go free. How’s that sound?” _

_ The man’s voice was rough, deep like a cavern echo, and rougher than soot. _

_ “Fine… you win. Now what?” _

_ “Now, my dearest friend, you sign.” _

_ A piece of paper and a pen appeared out of a flash of flame, right in front of Jeremy. He leaned forward to grab the paper, looking over its contents. _

_ “I don’t understand all this legal jargon, so short hand it for me.” _

_ The man laughed, his hair erupting into blue flame, curling downwards towards the back of his neck. _

_ “Oh Jeremy. You crack me up. Basically, this is how it's gonna go down...” the man paused, leaning back in his chair and lacing his fingers together, before continuing. “The deal is that you will not only let me control your body whenever, but that you must leave that stupid boyfriend of yours. And when your body has been wasted away, your soul will be mine to keep for… pleasure purposes.” _

_ Jeremy gulped, hesitating before lifting up the pen… and signing along the dotted line, the room filling with the man’s deep cackling before- _

Michael shot up from his spot in the bed, his bare chest covered in cold sweat.

_ “It was just a bad dream Michael… just a bad dream.” _

Although slightly comforting, it didn't help him go back to sleep, not managing to rest until the sun was low in the sky and his exhaustion won out.

 

Michael woke up again, his phone buzzing nearby. He groaned and reached for it, grabbing it and taking a look at the messages sent in the group chat. It was mostly Christine making sure everyone was awake, with confirmations from most everyone- Jake seemed to speak for both him and Rich at the moment. He sighed, sitting up and looking over to Jeremy. He managed to shift around in the night, as the scrawny boy was now hugging his pillow close.

Michael reached to move his boyfriend’s curly bangs out of the way, flinching at the sharp coldness of his skin. He wasn’t  _ dead, _ Michael could tell by the quiet breathing, but damn did he feel like a corpse. He got out of bed to get dressed.

After changing into some cleaner clothes, he changed Jeremy’s clothes too before grabbing his stuff and his boyfriend to meet the group at the van. He and Chloe caught each other’s eyes, nodding simply in acknowledgement.

“Uh, morning, everyone,” Michael greeted. Rich’s attention snapped from the ground towards Michael, a slight fear in his eyes that the Filipino boy really hoped he didn’t cause.

“Hey, Michael,” Christine was unusually tired for once, her usually boundless energy completely gone. Jenna stood beside her, blankly looking at her phone. Brooke was sipping a cup of what Michael would guess was coffee.

The group did their usually set up into the van, of course more sluggish than they usually did things. Michael began setting Jeremy up comfortably. Rich walked to him, holding some pillow.

“Uh,” Rich gave Michael the pillow. “Here- Jake and me went and bought this. Consider it my sorry present.”

Michael glanced at the small pillow, then looked at Rich who shuffled his feet. Michael took a breath before giving Rich a smile.

“Thanks, man. And, uh...I’m sorry too. For probably upsetting you.”

Rich suddenly beamed. Michael turned away to put the pillow under Jeremy’s head, and then get himself settled for the long ride ahead.

 

Luckily the ride wasn’t as tense as Rich thought it would be, Michael even managing to converse with the rest of the group to a degree. Although soft and sporadic, it was progress.

_ “I’m glad Michael decided to do something. We need, and will need him if we’re gonna get Jeremy back.” _

Rich leaned back against Jake, giving him a kiss on the cheek and getting one on his forehead in return. Smiling, he laced his fingers with Jake’s and pulled out his phone, idly browsing the Internet.

“Hey Jenna, you find a hotel near here? It’s gettin’ late, and we need our rest if we’re going to be hiking up a mountain.”

“How come we can’t just drive up the mountain?” Jake asked.

“Well we can drive most of the way, but after a while the road gets too thin to drive.” Christine said, turning her head slightly to better throw her voice.

“Take a left on this road,  Chris. It should be right there.”

Upon doing so, they arrived at a medium sized hotel, where a familiar figure was leaning against the front of the building.

“Is...is that Winter?”

Upon pulling into a space however, Winter merely nodded, and slipped into the shadows without a trace. Everybody looked at one another, and decided not to question it.

“Well I guess that means our rooms are already covered.”

“Yep. So let’s get some sleep team. We have a mountain to climb tomorrow.”

 

“Goodnight, Michael,” Christine passed by him with Jenna at her side. “Sleep well.”

“Yeah, you too, Chris,” Michael replied before entering his room, basically giving his comatose boyfriend a piggyback ride. He switched the lights on, putting Jeremy to bed real quick. He took a water bottle out of his bag, carefully getting Jeremy to drink it. He capped the bottle and placed it onto the nightstand, turning away to get himself ready for bed.

He didn’t take long, a little too paranoid to leave Jeremy alone for long. He came back and flopped down beside his boyfriend, face down. He laid like that for a few moments before turning to look at Jeremy. The nightmare came back to mind, making Michael shiver. He sat up and cleared his throat.

“Hey, uh, Jer. I’m not sure if you can hear me but...please don’t listen to that asshole,” He pressed a hand on Jeremy’s pale face, rubbing his thumb on his cheek. “I don’t want to lose you because you...because you didn’t feel like you had enough, or something. Or that you weren’t enough.” Michael could feel a lump in his throat, trying not to cry. “You deserve the world, but not like this.”

Jeremy seemed to shift a bit, leaning into Michael’s hand. The tan boy’s breath hitched, a few tears slipping down. He wasn’t sure if it was a sign, yet it still filled him with a haunting hope.

“Please Jeremy,” He begged again quietly. “Hold out for only a little longer.”


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three - Mount Mitchell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the mountain top!

  
  


When Christine woke up, the smell of bacon and eggs was creeping from beneath her door.

_ “Huh. Must be the perks of our rooms being booked by Winter...” _

Shrugging off the thought, she managed to get dressed without waking her girlfriend, and padded down the hall to where a banquet was laid out on the table. Surprisingly, other than Jenna, everybody else was up, yet the air was extremely awkward, and from what she could tell, it was because Rich was attempting to conversate with Michael.

_ “Well this just won’t do. My babies need help.” _

“Morning everyone! How are y’all doing?”  
Christine’s joyful entrance had the desired effect, with varied replies somewhere along the lines of “It was bad, but you made it better” and “Amazing!”. She even managed to get a smile from Michael, who promptly went back to patiently and slowly feeding his boyfriend, who, Christine noticed, was now making small movements on his own, albeit strained.

“How’s Jeremy doin’ Michael?”

“He’s… better. He can open his mouth now, and lean just a bit so its progress.”

“That’s wonderful, sweetheart. Jeremy, you’d better be grateful when we get you back.” she joked. It may have been a trick of the light, but Christine thought she saw Jeremy’s lips curl in a smile, if only for a moment.

“Hey guys.”

Everyone turned and greeted Jenna as she walked in, Christine passing her a plate and giving a kiss on the cheek.

After a few minutes of just eating and Chris “Mom friend-ing”, as Michael called it, Rich turned his head to the window, and furrowed his brow.

“Hey guys… isn’t that Winter’s goon or whatever? Essiah I think it was?”

_ “Well I’m not surprised. Wherever Winter is, his twinkie lookin’ musclehead is sure to follow.” _

And indeed it was, leaning against the wall in the shadows, albeit trying very hard to be mysterious like Winter. Making eye contact, he smiled, and did a waving peace sign before walking off. Watching him go however, his right knee suddenly buckled, with  **very** loud cursing following along. Recovering quickly, as was his thing from what Chris could tell, he continued on his way, noticeably not putting pressure on the leg as he walked.

“Well… that was a thing.”

“He looked like a dumbass out there. I managed to get a video too.”

“Jenna, take it easy on the goon. He’s trying.”

After about 20 more minutes, they finished up their breakfast, and packed up the van, making their way to Mt. Mitchell.

 

After the events of breakfast, and despite the events that they were about to head into, the group remained in fairly good spirits. Throughout the drive to the state park, even Michael was joking around with everyone. They drove into parking lot, Jenna parking the van in a shady spot.

While they were getting out, Rich looked around. He almost jumped back when he spotted Winter again, staring at him from a long way away. Winter gave a brief salute before disappearing again.

“He’s already here.”

“Who?”

“Winter,” Rich pointed vaguely were he saw the blonde. 

“Damn, that guy moves around too fast for a human,” Michael huffed as he hopped out of the van with Jeremy on his back.

“Are you implying he isn’t human?” Christine asked.

Michael made an unsure noise.

“Let’s just get moving. We’ve got to find a trail that’s wheelchair accessible,” Jake gestured to his chair before rolling away. 

“And one that doesn’t include a guide,” Jenna added before following. “We don’t need someone questioning why and what the fuck we’re doing. We’re here to save a friend, not learn shit.”

“Right.” Michael nodded.

“Let’s just hope this is the beginning of the end of this SQUIP bullshit,” Rich mumbled bitterly.

 

They were about halfway up the mountain when the weird shit kicked into high gear, up to this point there was merely an increasing amount of fog, which gradually died down after a while. But now it was getting serious…

“Uh, guys? Anybody else hearing that?” Rich asked, a tremor in his voice.

“Don’t let it get to you Richie Baby. It’s probably some kind of magic to keep people away from here.”

“Right, that’s it. Nothing here that can kill us...”

Personally, Michael had blocked out the noises, focused entirely on carrying Jeremy to the top of the mountain, no matter what came his way. But he’d be lying if he said the whispering voices didn’t unnerve him to a degree.

“Push through team. If we can make it through this, there’s no doubt we can save Jeremy once we get to the top. So double time! The faster we move, the faster we can get away from this spooky shit.” Christine barked, having switched to her troop commander mode. However, soon after, as if responding to Christine’s call to ignore them, the voices got significantly loder, deafening almost, and now clear as day.

_ You’ll never save your friend. _

_ Turn back now. _

_ Your demises are imminent. _

No one spoke about, but everyone quickened their pace, even Jake allowing Rich to run with the wheelchair in order to keep up with the others.

_ “We’ve got to be almost there… We’ve got to!” _

After running full tilt for what seemed like an eternity, the voices and fog quickly died down, and the slope of the mountain evening out. And to no one’s surprise they were the last to arrive.

“Took y’all long enough. I swear people with short legs move so slow.”

“Shut up Essiah. Let’s just save the fellow homos.”

 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Chloe walked up to Winter while he stood staring into the distance while everyone else was setting up behind them. “Why the hell did you want us on this mountain? And what was with the voices on the way up?”

“This mountain is the tallest of Appalachian range,” He replied. “As for the voices thing, uh…” He paused and squinted at absolutely nothing. “Actually, I don’t have an answer for that. So let’s go with ‘magic’.” 

“That’s a cop-out.”

“Yeah, well, fuck you.” Winter turned to join the rest of the group as they stood in a circle around Jeremy, who was laid out on a blanket on the ground. “Man, this guy is in surprisingly good condition for being in a three day coma.”

“Thanks?” Michael said questioningly.

“Yeah, so anyway. We can’t really do much yet.”

“What?!” The group of eight screeched. Winter held up his hands defensively.

“Look, the only one who might, keyword being  _ might  _ be able to help at the moment is Michael. Jeremy reacted a bit to you last night, right?”

Michael flinched back, a confused look on his face. “Yeah? How the hell did you-”

“Don’t worry about that,” Both Winter and Essiah responded.

“Anyway,” Winter started again. “Basically, you need to encourage him. The SQUIP is an asshole who’ll tear you down and then build you back up with the promise of everything.” The blonde nudged Jeremy’s leg with a boot. “If Jeremy can fully reject the SQUIP both physically and mentally, we,” Winter gestured to himself and Essiah. “Will do our work of getting rid of the bastard. So Michael, go ahead and be Jeremy’s hype man or whatever the fuck.”

Michael was about to speak again before shutting his mouth and nodding, walking and taking a seat on the ground, placing Jeremy’s head in his lap. He took a second to calm himself, and began.

“Jeremy? It’s Michael- I hope you can hear me....”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those of you wondering, yes, my knees do have a tendency to buckle, much to Winter's amusement.  
> it sucks


	25. Twenty-Four - Mount Mitchell, Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the SQUIP!  
> also some advice on justifying murder  
> : )

  
  


_ “Come now Jeremy. It’s been three whole days. It would be much easier if you would agree to my terms. Let’s go over this one more time. If-” _

_ “No. I’ll never make a deal with you. Michael’s getting me out of here.” _

_ “Give me a break. There’s no way-” _

**“Jeremy? It’s Michael- I hope you can hear me...”**

_ “IMPOSSIBLE!” _

**“We’re getting him out of there, but we need your help. So please… do anything you can to break out. Take control again!”**

_ For the first time since Jeremy went under, he felt a surge of strength, breaking through the magic that had chained him to the chair. _

_ “How can this be? I’m the most powerful being to date!” _

_ “Maybe you’re right. But never doubt the stubbornness of a group of dumbasses.” _

_ With that, Jeremy flipped the table, the SQUIP scrambling to get clear. _

_ “STOP THIS AT ONCE! YOU’LL RUIN EVERYTHING!” _

_ “Yeah, that’s the point!” _

_ Jeremy then picked up his chair, and flung it into the darkness, which turned out to be a wall of sorts, the chair shattering into splinters against it. _

**“Jeremy, it’s working! Whatever you just did, keep doing it!”**

_ Jeremy leapt forward, shoulder charging the wall, the force of it shaking the entire room. Ignoring the SQUIP’s orders to stop, Jeremy began punching the wall over and over again with all his might, cracking the obsidian blackness and revealing beams of light shining through. _

_ “JEREMY HEERE STOP THIS NOW!” _

_ With one last surge of strength, Jeremy leaned back, springing forward to unleash a massive Spartan kick, breaking the wall open with a massive ‘ _ **_crack!_ ** _ ’ Suddenly Jeremy was bathed in light, Michael’s voice clearer than ever… _

 

Jeremy jolted awake, chest heaving. He sat up incredibly quickly, his head and vision spinning. He could barely hear everyone over the buzzing in his ears at the moment, but once everything settled with his senses, he could hear the shouting.

“ _ This  _ is the piece of shit who ruined everyone’s lives?!”

“Why the fuck would I lie?!”

“Didn’t he lose his physical form or some shit?”  
“Not anymore!”

Jeremy blinked and almost screamed when he saw the SQUIP actually standing  _ in actual real life.  _ Next moment, the demon took a punch to the face and collapsed in an instant. Jeremy looked at the attacker, seeing Winter cursing quietly and shaking his hand off.

“That was  _ way  _ too easy, what the fuck.” Rich half-complained.

“Yeah, well, demons are frail as fuck without any form of power,” Winter debriefed before kicking the SQUIP’s side. “It’s actually kind of hilarious.”

“What’s going on?” Jeremy asked out loud before getting a tackle-hug from right behind him. He yelped as Michael jumped up and twirled him around. “Michael! Put me down- god this is making me dizzy again-”

Michael stopped, putting him down and turning Jeremy to face him. “Sorry, I just- Dude I thought I was gonna lose you,” Michael was grinning, but some tears rolled down his face. He used the heel of his hand to wipe them away, nudging his glasses slightly.

“Shit, man...I never meant to worry you.”

Michael grabbed him by the shoulders. “But you’re okay now! It’s fine!  _ You’re  _ fine!”

“Yeah...I am,” Jeremy agreed softly looking into Michael’s tired eyes.

“So, uh...what’re you guys gonna do the SQUIP anyway?” Rich asked Winter and Essiah.

“You’ll see in a moment.” Winter assured.

 

While the rest of the group was busy celebrating, Rich was still nervous about the disposal of the SQUIP, seeing that he was the first to suffer by its hand. Looking over, he saw that Essiah and Winter were being noticeably secretive about what they were doing to the SQUIP. His curiosity and anxiety winning out, he walked over to them, who were currently fussing over a body bag.

“Umm… what exactly are you guys gonna do? I… I don’t want that thing coming back.”  
Winter turned, handing the body bag over to the other to figure out.

“In layman's terms, we’re taking precautions to take care of its new body, and its astral spirit that you and Jeremy are familiar with.”

“And since you’re asking, come and help me put it in the bag. Winter’s got muscles like marshmallows.”

“Shut up Mr.  _ nice teachers _ .”

“That was an accident! Let it go, Mr.  _ Noverwatch. _ ”

In order to prevent further bickering, however playful, Rich helped Essiah put the SQUIP in the bag, hoisting him up by the legs while Essiah got the head. Having put the SQUIP in the bag, Rich threw it down with a grunt, Essiah bending down to zip it up.

“Okay… now that that’s done, what’s next?”

“Simple,” Winter said coming from around Rich, handing his compatriot a baseball bat. “We beat him to death!” Essiah finished, tapping the bat against the palm of his other hand with a vicious glint in his eyes.

“Wait, what!”

“Rich what’s wrong!” Jake said, wheeling over along with the rest of the group, concern written all over his face.

“They’re gonna beat him to death!”

“WHAT?!” Everyone yelled in unison, earning an eye roll from Winter.

“It’s to destroy his body. If we don’t, there’s a chance he’ll survive this next step.”

“What are you gonna do then! Burn him?”

“Pfftt, please. Burning does absolute nothing to spirits of his calibre. No, we got something special planned for him,” Essiah said, visibly excited at the notion of murder.

“But-”

“No buts. Butts are for slappin’. If you wanna join in, there should be some extra bats right over there.” Essiah said, stretching out before delivering the first blow, with a loud  _ crunch _ of bone being broken. Christine went to say something, but by then Winter had turned around, and began beating the SQUIP aggressively with the bat.

“Fuck it. I’m joining in” Jeremy said, turning to where the bats were. Before he could far though, Christine grabbed him, giving him a stern Mom look that dissuaded him for further action on his words. 

After about 30 more minutes of aggressive beating, the two finally lifted up their bats, and nodded at one another, throwing them on the ground.

“Are you guys finally done?”

“Almost,” Winter said, following Essiah who had picked up the bag and was walking off onto a trail that led to the drop off of the mountain. “We have one thing left to do. We have to follow Essiah though, and hope we don’t get lost, since he was the one that found out about the thing.”

“Hey! You suggested the location, I did the research! Now c’mon! We ain’t got all day!”

 

“So, uh,” Christine lingered to the back of the group where Winter was. “How do you know so much about things like this?”

“I know witches,” He replied dryly. Christine waited for him to start laughing or something but he didn’t.

“Uh...alright. Second question, how are you okay with...uh…”

“Beating an unconscious being into a pulp?” Winter finished the question. “Consider it like this, the SQUIP was a complete asshole who’s ruined lives. That thing absolutely deserves it.” He shrugged. “I’m someone who thinks of things in a more long term sense when it comes to shit like this.”

Christine pressed her lips into a line before moving faster to get away from the sudden awkward air. She pressed herself to Jenna’s side as they got to the mouth of a cave.

“I found it!” Essiah yelled, turning his head and looking to the back of the group.

“Good for you, now let’s get rid of this fucker.” Winter walked forward.

“Wait, wait, wait. What the hell is this place?” Jeremy asked.

“Salt cavern. Basically like a prison for shit like demons and spirits: Absolute hell with no escape.” Winter answered before leading the way into the cave. He stood on the cliff within it. “And now it’s time to dispose of this body.”

With a loud, “Yeet!” Essiah straight up threw the body bag off the cliff. There was a brief thud and the sound of tumbling before it stopped. Essiah brushed off his hands.

“And the evil is defeated.” Winter said, unceremoniously. “You guys can calm down now.”

Surprisingly, they did.


	26. Epilogue - Channel Outro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alls well that ends well

  
  


_ Michael and Jeremy were sitting on a bed, holding hands while people talked in the background. _

_ “Guys, you know the camera’s on right?” _

_ “I told them!” _

_ Jake came into view, followed by Rich, Christine, Jenna, Brooke, and Chloe. _

_ “Hello YouTube! Michael here, along with my beautiful,” He slung his arm across Jeremy’s shoulders, pulling him closer, “Amazing boyfriend Jeremy. Oh, and these guys too.” _

_ “Hey! We got a name ya know!” _

_ “And what’s that?” _

_ “PNSN INVESTIGATIONS!” The group yelled, having obviously rehearsed that beforehand. _

_ “If you guys enjoyed the video, leave a like, and comment below where you think we should go next!” _

_ “And funny moments where Jeremy freaks out!” _

_ “Follow our collective social media pages. Links will be in the description.” _

_ “If you guys see something out of the ordinary, don’t go alone! You might end up like me!” _

_ “Even if it involves someone you love.” _

_ “Do your research first, kiddies!” _

_ “Be sure to take the necessary precautions against demon and spirit possession!” _

_ “Support those who are being possessed, and their loved ones!” _

_ “So from everyone here at PNSN Investigations...” _

_ “WE’LL SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!” _

_ They all laughed, and Jenna walked up to the camera, abruptly cutting the video off. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much! Everyone who stuck by and read this story, gave absolutely heart warming comments!  
> Love you guys and I look forward to having more stuff for you guys, including the last few chapters of Being Found!  
> Thank you guys once again!


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